Kevin McCarthy Clashes With NBC Hosts Over Pardoning Biden Family: He ‘Must Know Something’ Others Don’t
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy clashed with NBC News anchors Monday in a contentious interview in which he took issue with perceived double standards being applied to President Trump by the Democrats and the media.
McCarthy joined NBC’s inauguration coverage shortly after former President Biden announced the streak preventive pardons for five members of his family on the way out.
The former Republican lawmaker was asked how he reconciled Republican criticism of Biden’s last-minute pardons with Trump’s campaign promise to issue pardons for numerous individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
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First Lady Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, outgoing President of the United States Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden participates in the departure ceremony for the Bidens on the East Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC following the swearing in of Donald Trump as President on January 20, 2025. (Chris Kleponis/Pool via REUTERS)
“This is the difference. This president told the American public, when he was campaigning for office, ‘if I’m elected president, I’m going to forgive these people,'” McCarthy shot back. “Compare this to Joe Biden, who said he would never pardon his son, who is now, on the last day in the last 30 minutes, pardoning his entire family.”
“Terrible. Terrible,” he continued. “Think about what everyone else has been through. Why forgive your family? It doesn’t make sense to me…all it does is obscure that you did something wrong…you have to know something other people don’t know and what Why did you wait until 30 minutes before that? Why did you tell the American public that you would never pardon your son, and now the difference is whether you agree with what President Trump is going to do. They take that into account if they vote for him. so he just keeps a campaign promise.”
Asked about concerns that Trump would seek political retribution against political opponents in power, McCarthy said it’s Democrats who need to take a hard look in the mirror.
“Look, that’s the thing that bothers me the most. For people who oppose President Trump, all they’re talking about is retaliation. I haven’t seen him retaliate against anybody while he’s been in power … he’s talked about it, but I” just saw the other side taking revenge on him and everyone else.
“I’ll tell you this — four years ago, when President Trump left office, everybody who worked for him got blackballed. Nobody could get a job … nobody could work anywhere and then everybody had to go through lawyers. They were all getting prosecuted, they all had to go through that, and what the Democrats did to President Trump was help prosecute him…” he continued.
McCarthy said Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to head the FBI, would “uphold the rule of law.”
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I’ve seen people sitting there saying I want to go after you because you say you might do something in the future. We live in America, don’t we? You’re innocent until proven guilty, but now they’re going after this, they’re going to uphold the rule of law , but they saw the other side of this nation [were] the use of criminal prosecution against them which was wrong. I think for that reason they will be more inclined not to use it.”
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NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie fired back, arguing that the prosecution of Trump for possessing classified documents “is not an abuse” of the rule of law.
“This is perfectly fine, which was about President Trump, but at the same time you say that, you had President Joe Biden who had the documents in his garage,” McCarthy countered.
“This is something that was different… he had a document when he was a senator. I was part of the eight – at no time, no place… a senator could ever take a classified document. Done, but He had one . Did they put him on trial? What did they say? He’s the current president of the United States.” McCarthy continued.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S., Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“So this is what we’re talking about about fair treatment. When people on the other side say ‘oh my God, President Trump might do something in the future,’ he didn’t. Give us time and … if he does something bad, that is an appropriate time to discuss, but I’ve just watched the nation have a chance to heal. I’ve watched world leaders come to this inauguration of him, and we’re excited,” McCarthy concluded. “I’ve watched bigwigs in business say they’re changing their process … to be fair.”
