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Tapes Reveal Kevin McCarthy Thought 25th Amendment Would Have Taken Too Long

“That takes too long,” the Republican Party leader said on the topic of impeaching then-president Donald Trump.

In a newly released recording, Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is heard saying days after the events of Jan. 6 that turning to the 25th Amendment to impeach then-President Donald Trump would have taken far “too long.” The audio clip, from a Jan. 8 phone call, was supplied to CNN by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, who report on it in their new book, This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future. In the recording an aide tells McCarthy, who'd asked for details about a separate call, that “I think the options that have been cited by the Democrats so far are the 25th Amendment, which is not exactly an elegant solution here.” McCarthy replied, “That takes too long too. It could go back to the House, right?”