President Kevin McCarthy said he doesn’t think people should protest if President Trump is arrested on Tuesday, but he did defend the former president who recently called for public displays of outrage.
“I don’t think people should be protesting this, no,” the California Republican told reporters on the first day of the Republican House retreat in Orlando, Florida. “I think, President Trump, if you talk to him, he doesn’t believe that.” any.’
McCarthy then suggested that Trump’s words were “misconstrued” and that he was just trying to “educate people about what’s going on.”
Trump previously claimed on his Truth Social platform that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday, as he explicitly called on his supporters to “protest, take back our nation.”
“I don’t think people should be protesting this, no,” the California Republican told reporters on the first day of the Republican House retreat in Orlando, Florida.
“He is not speaking in a harmful way and no one should be harmed if this were to happen,” McCarthy said, adding that he had not spoken to the former president since his disclosure.
“If this were to happen, we want peace of mind.”
Trump said he expects to be arrested this week on New York state charges related to a payment he made before the 2016 presidential election.
Prosecutors argue that he violated a New York law that prohibits falsifying business records when he marked a $130,000 payment to Daniels as “legal expenses.”
“He is not speaking in a harmful way and no one should be harmed if this were to happen,” McCarthy said, adding that he had not spoken to the former president since his disclosure.
Trump could be charged with falsifying business records in connection with payments to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who served jail time after pleading guilty to using campaign finances in connection with Daniels.
The former president could also face charges related to violations of electoral law.
Asked if Trump should go ahead with his 2024 candidacy if convicted of a crime, McCarthy repeatedly said: “The constitution allows him to.”
McCarthy said any lawyer would conclude that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump is the “weakest case out there.” He said the accusation “will not stand up in court.”
McCarthy told Bragg: ‘Stop going after people because you have political differences.’
“This state becomes more populous because of this Manhattan DA,” McCarthy said. She called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis an “incredible governor.”
Asked if DeSantis called the Russia-Ukraine war a “territorial dispute” that the United States should not get involved in, McCarthy said, “I have real concern about aggression or about Russia.”
McCarthy promised ‘action’ from the weapons subcommittee that is investigating whether federal funds were used in the Trump impeachment.
The comment came as the House Republican conference met in Florida to discuss their future agenda.
McCarthy noted that the House has passed 35 bills so far in Congress and 30 of them have won Democratic votes. Many of those bills, however, will never see the light of day in the Democratic-led Senate.
He promoted Republican moves to reopen the House of Representatives to the public, lift the vaccination mandate for service members, establish committees to investigate China and arm the government.
“The House Republicans have the Democrats on the defensive in this Congress,” said Republican leader Tom Emmer.
“Republicans have been on the offensive,” he added. We are working as a team.
McCarthy also touted his relationship with his Democratic counterpart, Hakeem Jeffries. It’s an apparently closer relationship than the one he had with former President Nancy Pelosi.
“I didn’t have a relationship with Hakeem before he became leader, but I’m willing to work hard to treat him the way I thought all minority leaders should be treated,” McCarthy said.
“I should have,” he added in a veiled shot to Pelosi. “I communicate with (Jeffries) about a lot of different topics.”
McCarthy said he and Jeffries sat down with the select committee on competition in China and urged them to work in a bipartisan manner.
On the new deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran brokered by China, the speaker said: “That used to be the role of the United States.”
The speaker also touted moves to “clean up” the Intel Committee, which he said “for too long became the impeachment committee.”
When asked if the GOP-led House had a duty to act after the Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, McCarthy largely blamed inflation.
“I don’t think it’s a regulatory problem,” McCarthy said, adding that the “real culprit” is spending.
He said the Financial Services Committee will hold hearings to get to the bottom of the problem. ‘Did the California regulators miss something? I think we will have a lot of questions on this for Governor Gavin Newsom as well,” he said.
