One of the most closely examined conversations from the 6 January 2021 Capitol attack was a phone call between then-President Donald Trump and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while rioters were inside the US Capitol.
McCarthy contacted Trump as the situation deteriorated and urged him to tell his supporters to stop the violence and leave the building. According to an account later provided by Republican Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, Trump initially disputed McCarthy’s description of the attackers before making a remark about their anger over the 2020 election.
The details were initially reported during Trump’s second impeachment trial in February 2021. Later, the House Select Committee investigating January 6 included evidence about the conversation in its final report.
What Happened on January 6, 2021?
On 6 January 2021, Congress was meeting in Washington, DC, to certify the Electoral College results of the 2020 presidential election.
A large crowd supporting Trump gathered in Washington before a group of rioters breached the US Capitol. Police lines were overwhelmed, windows and doors were breached and lawmakers were forced to evacuate or shelter in secure locations.
Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader at the time, was inside the Capitol complex as the violence escalated.
McCarthy eventually spoke with Trump by telephone and urged him to intervene publicly.
Why Did Kevin McCarthy Call Trump?
McCarthy’s purpose was to ask the president to help stop the attack.
According to the account later relayed by Herrera Beutler, McCarthy urged Trump to get on television or social media and tell the rioters to leave the Capitol.
The situation was particularly serious because members of Congress and their staff were still being moved to safety while rioters were attempting to gain access to restricted areas of the building.
Later evidence showed that McCarthy was among several Republican officials who were pressing the White House to respond more forcefully as the attack continued.
What Did Trump Say About the Rioters?
According to Herrera Beutler’s account of what McCarthy told her, Trump initially suggested that the people attacking the Capitol were associated with antifa.
McCarthy reportedly rejected that explanation and told Trump that the people inside the Capitol were his supporters.
Herrera Beutler said McCarthy then described the danger to his staff and urged Trump to call the rioters off.
It was at this point, according to the account, that Trump made the comment about the rioters being more upset about the election than McCarthy was.
The precise wording of the conversation became significant during the subsequent impeachment proceedings because it was presented as evidence concerning Trump’s response to the violence while it was happening.
Who Was Jaime Herrera Beutler?
Jaime Herrera Beutler was a Republican member of the US House of Representatives from Washington state.
She was not present for the Trump-McCarthy conversation. Instead, her account came from what McCarthy told her after his call with Trump.
She later made that information public during the impeachment proceedings, saying that McCarthy had described the conversation to her and that she had subsequently shared the details with constituents and colleagues.
Her statement was entered into the Senate impeachment trial record in February 2021.
Why the Call Became Important Evidence
The phone call became important because it offered an account of Trump’s reaction while the Capitol was still under attack.
The central issue was not simply what Trump had said publicly before the riot. Investigators and lawmakers were also examining what he did once he knew that the crowd had breached the Capitol and that members of Congress were in danger.
Herrera Beutler’s account suggested that McCarthy was asking Trump to take immediate action while Trump was focused on the election and the motivations of the people involved in the attack.
Later evidence from the January 6 Committee added further support to the basic account of the conversation.
What Did the January 6 Committee Find?
The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol examined the call as part of its broader investigation.
Its final report said the committee had evidence from multiple sources concerning the conversation between Trump and McCarthy.
The committee cited Herrera Beutler’s account and also referred to evidence from former acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. According to the committee’s report, Mulvaney later recalled McCarthy telling him that Trump had responded by saying that the people involved were perhaps more angry about the election than McCarthy was.
This additional evidence was significant because it meant the account was not based solely on one contemporary media report.
McCarthy’s Later Account Was More Cautious
McCarthy later discussed his January 6 conversation with Trump in interviews but did not publicly endorse every detail attributed to him.
In an April 2021 interview, McCarthy said that he had contacted Trump while the riot was taking place and that he was focused on getting the violence stopped.
When asked specifically about the reported remark concerning people being more concerned about the election than he was, McCarthy declined to directly confirm the wording.
This created a complicated public record around the conversation. Herrera Beutler stood by the account she had received from McCarthy, while McCarthy’s later public comments were more restrained.
The Account Entered the Senate Impeachment Record
The conversation became particularly prominent during Trump’s second impeachment trial.
Herrera Beutler released a statement detailing what McCarthy had told her. The statement was subsequently admitted into the Senate record as evidence.
Her account said McCarthy had told Trump that the attackers were his supporters and urged him to stop them. It then described Trump’s response concerning the crowd’s anger over the election.
The episode was used by House impeachment managers as part of their argument that Trump had failed to respond adequately while the Capitol was under attack.
Trump Eventually Told the Crowd to Go Home
Trump eventually released a video message asking people who had entered the Capitol to go home.
The message came after hours of violence and included language expressing affection for the people who had gathered in Washington, while also repeating false claims about the 2020 election.
The timing of the response became another central issue in later investigations. The January 6 Committee concluded that Trump resisted calls to intervene for a significant period while the attack continued.
The committee’s final report documented numerous efforts by people around Trump to persuade him to tell the rioters to leave.
Why the Timing Mattered
The Trump-McCarthy call occurred while the Capitol was still in crisis rather than after the violence had ended.
That timing made the conversation especially important to investigators examining Trump’s conduct on January 6.
McCarthy was attempting to communicate the seriousness of the situation from inside the Capitol, while Trump was at the White House watching events unfold.
The subsequent evidence therefore became part of a larger investigation into what Trump knew, when he knew it and how he responded to requests from allies and officials to intervene.
The Call and the Broader January 6 Investigation
The Trump-McCarthy conversation was only one part of a much larger investigation.
Investigators examined Trump’s actions before, during and after the attack, including his public statements, private conversations, social media posts and interactions with members of Congress and White House officials.
They also examined the behaviour of people who entered the Capitol and the role played by organised extremist groups and other political movements.
WebVibe’s related historical coverage examines the involvement of extremist groups in the January 6 Capitol riot, providing additional context about the people who participated in the attack.
Was the Conversation Independently Corroborated?
Later evidence strengthened the basic account of the conversation.
The January 6 Committee cited Herrera Beutler’s account as well as information from Mick Mulvaney. The committee said Mulvaney had separately recalled McCarthy describing Trump’s response in similar terms.
The final report therefore presented the conversation as part of a wider body of evidence concerning Trump’s response to the Capitol attack.
At the same time, readers should distinguish between the existence and broad substance of the conversation and the exact wording attributed to every exchange. Different accounts have used slightly different wording when describing the same discussion.
What Happened to Herrera Beutler?
Herrera Beutler remained a Republican member of Congress after January 6 but later lost her seat in the 2022 Republican primary to Joe Kent.
Her decision to publicise the account of the Trump-McCarthy call became one of the more notable actions by a Republican member during the second impeachment proceedings.
Her statement was significant because it provided lawmakers and the public with a contemporaneous Republican account of what McCarthy had told colleagues about his conversation with Trump.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Trump speak to Kevin McCarthy during the Capitol riot?
Trump and McCarthy spoke by telephone on 6 January 2021 while the attack on the Capitol was underway.
Why did Kevin McCarthy call Trump?
McCarthy called Trump to urge him to intervene and tell the rioters to stop the violence and leave the Capitol.
Who revealed details of the Trump-McCarthy call?
Republican Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler publicly described what McCarthy had told her about the conversation. Her statement was later entered into the Senate impeachment trial record.
Did the January 6 Committee examine the call?
Yes. The committee’s final report included evidence concerning the conversation and cited accounts from Herrera Beutler and former acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.
Did Kevin McCarthy later confirm the exact quote?
McCarthy acknowledged that he spoke with Trump during the riot and said he wanted the violence stopped, but he was more cautious when asked about the specific reported wording of Trump’s remark.
The Trump-McCarthy Call in Historical Perspective
The January 6 phone call between Donald Trump and Kevin McCarthy became an important piece of evidence in the subsequent investigation into the Capitol attack.
The original reports emerged only weeks after the riot, when lawmakers were still debating Trump’s second impeachment. Later investigations provided additional evidence about the conversation and placed it within a broader timeline of events at the Capitol.
The most significant point is that McCarthy was asking the president to intervene while the attack was still taking place. According to evidence later cited by the January 6 Committee, Trump responded with comments focused on the attackers’ anger over the election rather than immediately accepting McCarthy’s request to call them off.
Today, the exchange is best understood as a historical part of the extensive record surrounding the 6 January 2021 Capitol attack rather than as a current political event.
For more historical coverage of the events surrounding January 6, readers can explore WebVibe’s Latest section.
Sources
The article draws on contemporary reporting, the Senate impeachment record and the later final report of the House Select Committee investigating January 6.
US Government Publishing Office: Senate Congressional Record, 13 February 2021
US Government Publishing Office: Final Report of the January 6 Select Committee
Pulitzer Prize: Washington Post reporting on the January 6 attack
