McCarthy blasts Pelosi’s comments on Trump’s weight

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday blasted Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) comments about President Trump’s weight and said her speakership would lead to Republicans retaking the House majority.

The California Republican’s comments come after Pelosi said she thinks “it’s not a good idea” for Trump to take hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, as a preventative measure for the coronavirus.

“I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group, morbidly obese, they say,” Pelosi said on CNN on Monday evening. 

McCarthy on Tuesday vowed not to use similar rhetoric about past or future presidents and said the way Pelosi has conducted her speakership will lead to Republicans taking back the majority in the House. 

“No, I would not as Speaker use those terms. I will not rip up the State of the Union from a Democratic president either. I would hold that as a historical document that they’re meant to be,” he told reporters at a press conference held with newly elected Reps. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) and Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.). 

“I will not impeach just for political purposes. … I will believe in the rule of law. I will not take over Congress just to have power and only allow 20 people to vote. Now there’s a reason why we’ll change power in November, and there’s a reason why your Speaker office will come back to uphold the Constitution.”

While Republicans face an uphill battle in regaining control of the lower chamber — having to flip at least 17 seats — McCarthy said he believes the GOP’s two recent special election victories are indicative of what November’s races will look like.  

“I read a lot of early reports that these two special elections were going to be the indicator for November. … What’s interesting to me is the Democrats aren’t talking much about it because they planned on winning these two seats,” he said. “A whole different change is arising.”

Tiffany handily won his race to succeed former Rep. Sean Duffy (R) to represent Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, a traditional GOP stronghold. But McCarthy said Garcia’s ability to flip California’s 25th Congressional District back into Republican hands after a Democrat won the seat during the midterms is a promising sign.  

“More people voted in this special election than voted in this district in the primary when you had a presidential race. … This is a seat that Democrats won by more than 9 points just a few short months ago,” he said.

“Mike Garcia just flipped that on the other end, and it’s the home state of Nancy Pelosi. Not only did they change the election process to all obstacles. I think that says a big saying about Mike Garcia’s ability to unite this district, not about a party but about a country,” he added.