Opinion: To be consistent, McCarthy must tell Trump to stop questioning the election - Los Angeles Times
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Opinion: To be consistent, McCarthy must tell Trump to stop questioning the election

A man speaks at a lectern with U.S. and House flags behind him.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) on March 18.
(Los Angeles Times)
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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has been rightly ridiculed for his shifting positions on whether Donald Trump bears responsibility for the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol by crazed Trump supporters.

But on Wednesday, just after his first White House meeting with President Biden, McCarthy invited further mockery with a mind-boggling comment about the 2020 election.

The Bakersfield Republican, who signed on to a brief in the Supreme Court challenging Biden’s victories in four states, said: “I don’t think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election. I think that is all over with.” (He added: “We’re sitting here with the president today,” but that doesn’t support his larger assertion.)

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The idea that no one of any prominence is questioning the legitimacy of the election is not true. On Sunday, Trump did just that.

In a characteristically bizarre statement, the former president referred to “our fake presidential election” in a pseudo-tweet on his personal website that also described Medina Spirit, the horse that won the Kentucky Derby, as a “junky.”

McCarthy’s claim that no one is questioning the legitimacy of the election came after the House — with his support — ousted Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from party leadership. Cheney’s sin? She called out Trump’s Big Lie about a stolen election.

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McCarthy’s statement reminded me of this epigram from the poet J. V. Cunningham:

This is my curse. Pompous, I pray

That you believe the things you say.

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And that you live them, day by day.

Will McCarthy follow the poet’s injunction and demand in outraged tones that Trump (and Trump followers) put a lid on the Big Lie? Don’t hold your breath.

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