Trump accepted ‘some responsibility’ for Capitol attack, McCarthy audio reveals

New audio clips reveal that the House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, held Donald Trump responsible in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riot, and that Trump himself accepted "some responsibility" for the insurrection.

The explosive clips were released by the New York Times on Thursday and Friday after an earlier report said McCarthy and the Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, initially believed Trump to be responsible for the attack, and both privately expressed anger against him.

Speaking in Seattle on Friday, Joe Biden addressed the reports.

"They come to me and say: 'Joe, I want to be with you on such and such but I can't because I'll be primaried, I'll lose my race.' Folks, this has got to start to change."

In one released clip, from a 10 January 2021 call with House GOP leaders, McCarthy can be heard answering a question from the Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, who had a leadership role at the time. Cheney asked McCarthy if he believed Trump would resign if Congress passed a 25th amendment resolution, which would declare Trump incapable of holding office.

"My gut tells me no. I am seriously thinking about having that conversation with him tonight," he said. "The only discussion I would have with him is I think [the resolution] will pass, and it would be my recommendation that he should resign.

"That would be my take, but I don't think he would take it. But I don't know."