For one brief moment, Kevin McCarthy was held to account for Jan. 6 and his role after

For one passing night in this seemingly endless midterm election cycle, Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy faced some tough questions about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the congressional committee investigating events of that day, and fealty to Donald Trump.

And, not surprisingly, McCarthy dodged and deflected like the elite politician that he is. He often turned the focus back to his favorite foil and ideological opposite, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose job he covets in the worst way.

The Oct. 26 debate was co-sponsored by KGET-TV of Bakersfield and KSEE-TV of Fresno. Sharing the stage with McCarthy was his Democrat opponent, Marisa Wood of Bakersfield.

They are running to represent the new 20th Congressional District. It is a strangely shaped entity with 445,000 voters. More than half of them live in Kern County, and most of the district’s geography covers Kern and eastern Tulare County. A branch stretches across part of eastern Fresno County into Clovis and part of the city of Fresno. Another finger goes into Kings County. Republicans have nearly a 20-point advantage in party registration, making it the safest congressional seat for the GOP in California.

Capitol riot

Jim Scott of KGET asked McCarthy whether he bore any responsibility for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a violent event in which five people died and 138 police officers were injured.

Here is how McCarthy answered, verbatim:

“You have a challenge throughout this country, be it that election, be it Hillary Clinton in 2016. People have a real concern with trust. Remember what we went through with the pandemic. Remember how people changed the election laws without going through the Legislature, which is against the Constitution. It is your only moment in time that you can raise a question. I don’t think it is wrong in America today to raise a question. You have a right to do it.

Opinion

“Never did we ever challenge enough electors to change the outcome of the election. But it is the only moment, it is the only avenue, as members of Congress, to be able to have that, to be able to, look, did you uphold the law. You want to make sure, regardless of an outcome of an election, that everybody trusts. I want to make sure that as many people can vote, and make sure that the election is trusted and honest as we go forward.”

Reality check: The election-law change McCarthy referred to was Pelosi’s decision to allow members to cast votes online during the pandemic. She undertook that method for safety reasons in the midst of a once-a-century public health crisis. Contrary to McCarthy’s assertion, democracy was not threatened by members voting online. The work of the House got done.

Mar-a-Lago visit

The next question came from Alexan Balekian of KSEE. He reminded McCarthy how he said that then President Donald Trump bore some responsibility for the Capitol riot, but weeks later went to visit the former president at his Florida estate. “What made you decide, several weeks later, to visit Mr. Trump and pose for a picture with him at Mar-a-Lago?”

McCarthy, verbatim:

“Well, I have conversations with people on both sides of the aisle. I think a lot of challenges happened that day. To this day, we do not know because Nancy Pelosi will not release her ability of whether she denied the National Guard for being there. Were there warnings about the FBI. We watch, there continue to be political games, especially with the January 6 committee, where you are not even allowed to appoint.

“You know, I went to the (House) floor just two weeks after that asking that we could have like a 911 commission to look at this. Nancy Pelosi played political games for quite some time. I was invited to go to Mar-a-Lago to see the president, by the president. I was already in Palm Beach. So I stopped by to see him. He requested, he asked, to take a photo. I don’t understand — I just was in the Oval Office a couple of weeks ago with President Biden. It is my responsibility to speak to all and work to make sure this voice, from this Central Valley, is heard.”

Reality check: Equating seeing Trump to visiting Biden is nonsensical. When McCarthy visited Trump, the shock of Jan. 6 was still fresh, and Trump’s role in inciting the mob that day remained much debated. By going to Mar-a-Lago, McCarthy, the House GOP leader, gave legitimacy to Trump that the former president badly needed. It made it seem like Trump had done nothing wrong.

Second, McCarthy proposed five Republicans for the Jan. 6 committee. Two of them — Trump stalwarts Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana — were disqualified by Pelosi because it was clear they would not honestly search for the truth if on the committee. In a huff, McCarthy pulled all five GOP nominees.

Scott asked Wood for her thoughts on Trump’s denial of the 2020 election results. Here is part of her reply:

“We have to abide by the rule of law and we’ve got to follow the truth. And that is where you had a chance, Kevin, you had a chance to do that. And you turned your back on it. And you are smirking right now. You had a chance. And so many people are frustrated and angry with you, Kevin, and you just are ignoring it. It is appalling to me, it is appalling.”

Town hall perspective

In another interesting exchange, McCarthy was asked if he would hold “town hall” meetings with constituents, especially given the sprawling nature of the new district.

McCarthy said he does them now. It’s phone calls to individual homes.

“With technology today, I literally asked our constituents what form of town hall meetings would you like. Would you want to have to go down to a building and sit in there and maybe have disruption, or would you like a telephone town hall where I could call your home, where you could be with your family, you could put it on speaker, you could ask a question without being fearful of others knowing who you are. So I hold telephone town halls consistently.”

Reality check: That’s a cop-out and dismissal of the marketplace of ideas in the public square.

For her part, Wood showed no concerns about meeting with constituents. A former teacher, she is outgoing and comfortable in public.

Bottom line

The Bee Editorial Board has endorsed Wood because she has personal integrity and McCarthy doesn’t. As his answers show, he does not take responsibility for enabling Trump, thereby allowing his toxic election denials to continue unabated and infect a large part of the GOP. As a result, our democracy is threatened.

It is clear McCarthy is willing to sacrifice the good of the nation for his personal quest to be the next House speaker. No amount of glib answers can erase that impression.