Kevin McCarthy Clashes With NBC Hosts Over Biden Family Apology: ‘Must Know Something’ Others Don’t

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy clashed with NBC News hosts on Monday in a contentious interview with Democrats and the media over what appeared to be a double standard applied to President Trump.

McCarthy joined NBC’s inaugural coverage after former President Biden issued a series of statements Sorry in advance On the door to five members of the family.

The former GOP lawmaker was asked how he would move forward with Republican criticism of Biden’s last-minute pardon, which was promised in Trump’s campaign pledge to pardon several individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

Flash answer: Biden told CNN that he will not issue a pardon before leaving office

“Here’s the difference. When this president was campaigning for the American people, he said, ‘If I’m elected president, I will forgive these people,'” McCarthy shot back. He forgives.”

“Horrible, horrible,” he continued. “Think about what other people have been through. Why would you forgive your family? It doesn’t make any sense to me… What he does is, you put a cloud on him that you did something wrong…. You have to know what other people don’t do and what it is. Why wait until 30 minutes before you officially consider whether you’re going to vote for him for president?” Enter, so he’s keeping his campaign promise.

Asked about Trump’s fear of political retribution against political rivals, McCarthy said Democrats need to take a long hard look in the mirror.

“Look, this is what worries me the most. All they talk about is punishment for people who oppose President Trump. I’ve never seen him punish anyone when he’s in office. I’ve only seen the other side take revenge on him and everyone else.

“I’ll tell you this — when President Trump left office four years ago, everybody who worked for him had a blackball. Nobody could get hired … nobody could work anywhere and then everybody had to go through a lawyer. Everybody had to get it. He was indicted, everybody was watching. And President Trump helped get Democrats elected by impeaching what they did to President Trump.

McCarthy said Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, “respects the rule of law.”

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, D-Calif., at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I’ve watched people sit back and say they want to follow you because you say you might do something in the future. We live in America? You’re innocent until proven guilty, but now they’re going after this.” They uphold the rule of law, but when men (as they were) saw the wrong in bringing charges against them, they would be more apt not to use it.

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NBC host Savannah Guthrie pushed back, arguing that the impeachment of Trump’s possession of classified documents was “not an abuse” of the rule of law.

McCarthy replied: “This thing about President Trump is very safe, but at the same time you’re saying you had President Joe Biden with documents in your garage.”

“That was different. . . . He had a document when he was a senator. I was a member of the group of eight — never, anywhere . . . a senator can’t take a classified document. It’s done, but did he have one that he was indicted on?” McCarthy continued.

United States President Donald Trump delivers a speech at the 60th Presidential Inauguration on Monday, January 20, 2025 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“So that’s what we’re talking about about fairness. People on the other side are not saying, ‘Oh my God, President Trump might do something in the future.’ “I see and I’m glad they are,” McCarthy concluded. “I saw that the Titans were changing the way they do business… to be fair.”