Capitol Hill rioters 'more upset about the election than you are': Trump told McCarthy

Washington [US], February 13 : Former US President Donald Trump reportedly told House of Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy during a phone call on January 6 that the rioters were "more upset about the election" than the California Republican.
"Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are," Trump said, according to lawmakers who were briefed on the call afterwards by McCarthy, as reported by CNN on Friday.
McCarthy insisted that the rioters were Trump's supporters and begged Trump to call them off. Trump's comment set off what Republican lawmakers familiar with the call described as a shouting match between the two men.
The details of the call provide critical insight into the President's state of mind as rioters were overrunning the Capitol, CNN reported.
"He is not a blameless observer, he was rooting for them," a Republican member of Congress said and added, "On January 13, Kevin McCarthy said on the floor of the House that the President bears responsibility and he does."
Trump's comment about the insurrectionists caring more about the election results than McCarthy did was first mentioned by Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Republican, in a town hall earlier this week, and was confirmed to CNN by Herrera Beutler and other Republicans briefed on the conversation.
McCarthy pressed Trump to call off his supporters and engaged in a heated disagreement about who comprised the crowd.
"You have to look at what he did during the insurrection to confirm where his mind was at," Herrera Beutler, one of 10 House Republicans who voted last month to impeach Trump, told CNN.
"That line right there demonstrates to me that either he didn't care, which is impeachable, because you cannot allow an attack on your soil, or he wanted it to happen and was OK with it, which makes me so angry," she added.
"We should never stand for that, for any reason, under any party flag... I'm trying really hard not to say the F-word," she said further.
Herrera Beutler went a step further on Friday night, calling on others to speak up about any other details they might know regarding conversations Trump and Pence had on January 6, according to CNN.
"To the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former vice president: if you have something to add here, now would be the time," she said in a statement.
Another Republican member of Congress said the call was problematic for Trump. "I think it speaks to the former President's mindset," said Representative Anthony Gonzalez, an Ohio Republican who also voted to impeach Trump last month, as per CNN.
"He was not sorry to see his unyieldingly loyal vice president or the Congress under attack by the mob he inspired. In fact, it seems he was happy about it or at the least enjoyed the scenes that were horrifying to most Americans across the country," he added.
The new details come as the Senate impeachment trial is set to come to a close on Saturday. While several Republican senators have indicated they are open to the impeachment article, it is not expected that there are the 17 necessary GOP senators votes to convict the former president, The Hill reported.