McCarthy: NABJ interview showed ‘great thing’ about Trump

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was not sure “where [former President Trump] was going” in his interview with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), but by the end of it, he believed the combative interview highlighted “great things” about the former president.

“Well, at first, I don’t know where you’re going, but when you sit and look at it, Kamala was invited too, and she didn’t show. But he will go anywhere,” McCarthy said in an interview with Fox News’s Jesse Watters. “And the great thing about President Trump is he’s the same person in the front that he is behind, and he’ll tell it exactly how he sees it, exactly how he feels it.” 

Trump stirred up controversy during the at times combative NABJ interview on Wednesday when he attacked ABC’s Rachel Scott as “nasty” and “horrible” after she repeated racist statements he had made in the past about other people of color.

Trump also sparked intense backlash by questioning the race of his Democratic rival, Vice President Harris, saying she has only promoted her Indian heritage in the past. Harris is the first female vice president, as well as the first Black American and Indian American vice president. 

“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump told the NABJ crowd during a live interview. “I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

Some Republicans have urged Trump to move on from attacks on Harris’s race, and the vice president and the White House have both criticized him for his comments. 

McCarthy did not address the controversy during his interview with Watters and instead focused on Harris choosing not to attend the event. 

Harris said she was unable to attend due to scheduling issues and asked the NABJ if she could address virtually or send a surrogate; the association rejected both ideas.

McCarthy also pointed to rumors that Harris has run “toxic” work environments throughout her career. 

“You’re really seeing how she’s flip-flopped all the way through,” McCarthy said. “But she’s been consistent on one thing: She has had a toxic work environment the entire time she’s been a leader, in every office. And these are the most, most liberal people working for her [saying] they cannot work for her.”

Harris has long dealt with a revolving door of staff, from her tenure as a district attorney in San Francisco to the state attorney general to the Senate and now the vice presidency. During just one week in July 2022, she lost 13 staffers, including her head speechwriter.