Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
- A group of Republicans has bought billboards in Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s district.
- The billboards accuse McCarthy of lying about the Capitol riot.
- They allude to leaked audio tapes in which McCarthy was heard slamming Trump in private.
A Republican group has purchased billboards in House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s home district in California, accusing him of lying about the Capitol riot.
“We’ve heard the tapes, Kevin,” read the billboards. “Stop lying about January 6th.”
The group posted an image of one of the billboards on its Twitter page, along with the caption: “Hey @GOPLeader, one of your constituents sent us this picture. If you see one yourself, tag us and we’ll retweet it.”
—The Republican Accountability Project (@AccountableGOP) April 27, 2022
The billboards were funded by the Republican Accountability Project, a group of Republicans including Michael Steele, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee.
The group has placed McCarthy on its GOP “Hall of Shame” list, slamming the congressman for what it says are “false and/or irresponsible public statements” against democracy, among other things.
“We’re just trying to at least inform the people that vote for him that he lies and continues to lie,” the group’s spokesperson Barry Rubin told The Washington Post. “When he goes back home, there are going to be some people that question him about it.”
Rubin told The Post that the billboards are located around 100 miles north of Los Angeles, at six locales in Bakersfield, and will be up for two weeks.
The billboards allude to a recent scandal involving leaked audio tapes on which McCarthy can be heard slamming former President Donald Trump and other lawmakers.
In a taped call, McCarthy called Trump’s behavior over the Capitol riot “unacceptable” and indefensible while saying he had “had it” with the then-president. McCarthy can also be heard saying that Trump acknowledged “some responsibility” for the attack.
Other leaked recordings from McCarthy’s private conversations have revealed the congressman’s distaste for the actions of some GOP members. For instance, he criticized Rep. Matt Gaetz, for making comments following the riot that were “putting people in jeopardy.”
The recordings also captured McCarthy wondering out loud if some GOP lawmakers could be censored on Twitter and have their accounts taken away.
Responding to the comments in the recordings, Gaetz called McCarthy “weak,” while Fox News host Tucker Carlson labeled McCarthy a “puppet of the Democratic Party.”
The Republican Accountability Project has conducted campaigns against several GOP lawmakers, including a $1 million billboard drive calling for the resignations of Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, as well as House Reps. McCarthy, Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Madison Cawthorn, Mo Brooks, Elise Stefanik, and Louie Gohmert.
The group is also known for putting up billboards in Times Square in October 2021 to remind Trump that he lost the 2020 election.
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