House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is being urged to step down for having "spread the very lies" that fueled the Wednesday attack on the U.S. Capitol and his repeated enabling of President Donald Trump's "worst and most destructive acts."
In a Twitter thread Saturday, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) laid out the case against McCarthy (R-Calif.)—a key figure in blocking Americans getting $2,000 relief checks who's backed GOP efforts to overturn the election results.
"Kevin McCarthy should resign," wrote Beyer.
While Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) should face accountability for their roles in fueling the Capitol siege—as Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have urged—McCarthy has more to answer for, said Beyer.
"Hawley and Cruz deserve to be held accountable, but they are back-benchers," Beyer tweeted. "What Kevin McCarthy did was just as bad, but he is Minority Leader."
"Every House Republican voted to make him Speaker, and when he led his caucus into an attack on our democracy two-thirds followed him," the Virginia Democrat continued.
"Kevin McCarthy embraced and empowered the worst conspiracy theorists in his caucus," Beyer continued. "He spread the very lies that helped incite this violence. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Trump in trying to destroy our democracy. He always enables Trump's worst and most destructive acts."
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Beyer further accused McCarthy of echoing "Trump's incendiary lies and dehumanizing attacks on political opponents" and rejected as false his "claims to oppose 'division.'"
"No," Beyer added. "Kevin McCarthy must resign."
It's not just Democrats expressing frustration with McCarthy's recent actions.
Politico reported Saturday that McCarthy, as well as House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, are causing frustration in anonymous Republicans because McCarthy and Scalise "failed to show leadership in a time of crisis and should have done more to call out Trump for his role in the riots that left five people dead."
In a Friday statement, as the outlet noted, McCarthy acknowledged for the first that President-elect Joe Biden will assume office this month.
"As a nation I know we sit back and we're appalled by what we're seeing," McCarthy told ABC News Wednesday, "but I want everybody to take a deep breath and understand we all have some responsibility here."
