House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Thursday he rejects “cancel culture” when asked to respond to Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney’s statement that former President Donald Trump should have no role in the GOP.
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“I don’t believe in cancel culture, whether it be Republican or Democrat. I believe in free speech. I believe the Republican Party is a big tent: We are a party of ideas and people should be hearing our ideas,” McCarthy told “Fox & Friends.”
“The idea that the Democrats even yesterday in their hearings were trying to get cable networks to not cover your station and other stations that they don’t agree – they’re trying to get Amazon not to print books – but the idea that a Republican would join with the cancel culture, I just think is wrong, it’s beyond just having a difference of opinion.” (RELATED: ‘He Did Tell You So’: Lara Trump Says Donald Trump’s CPAC Speech Will Be About How He Warned America About Joe Biden)
Cheney made the remark in question on Wednesday, discussing whether she felt the former president should be speaking at the influential Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
“That’s up to CPAC. I’ve been clear in my views about President Trump and the extent to which, following Jan. 6, I don’t believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.”
Trump is expected to address the conservative conference Feb. 28 in what will be his first major public appearance since his presidential term ended.
McCarthy said Thursday that he sees his role as bringing “people together” and building on the successes of the 2020 congressional elections.
“This was only the first time since 1994, no Republican incumbent lost,” McCarthy said, stating that while he is “watching what the Democrats are doing on the floor, watching what Joe Biden is doing by executive orders,” he thinks Republicans need to take back the House to establish “a check and balance.” (RELATED: ‘I’ll Stand Up For Them’: Sen. Tom Cotton Says All Trump Supporters Shouldn’t ‘Have Their Views Censored’ Because Of Capitol Riot)
President Donald Trump hugs the American flag during CPAC 2019 on March 2, 2019 in National Harbor, Maryland. The American Conservative Union hosts the annual Conservative Political Action Conference to discuss the conservative agenda. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
“We cannot sit back and wait. We will continue to lead, I will continue to move forward and I will bring the people together … this country is too important to leave behind, and those voices that have not been heard for years before we will continue to listen to those, and we will continue to fight for those, to bring this nation together,” McCarthy said.
The congressman described the Republican agenda as “back to work, back to school and back to health.”
Ten House Republicans voted to impeach Trump, led by House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cheney, the third-ranking GOP member of the House. Cheney said she believed Trump “lit the flame” of the riot.