The Washington Post obtained recordings of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaking to donors last week, in which he blamed Republicans’ 2018 losses on the GOP health care bill and the far-right members of the caucus.
He said that the schisms within the Republican party caused the party to bungle its attempt to repeal Obamacare, which colored the issue for GOP candidates in 2018.
“…There was one issue we lost overwhelmingly: it was health care by 66 points,” McCarthy said of the 2018 midterms. “Had we lost health care just by 34 points, we’d still be in the majority. We’d have those other 80,000 votes that we needed.”
He also pointed out the various Freedom Caucus candidates who lost their elections in 2018, and promised that the establishment is trying to recruit candidates who will try to “find a solution.”
“It was kind of the policies that they wouldn’t let go through of why they lost,” McCarthy said of the Freedom Caucus members who lost. “And I think those seats are better for us to win, but also the quality of the candidate will matter more.”
