Trump criticizes McCarthy for treatment of Greene in new book

Former President Trump criticized House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for his treatment of firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in a new book, contending the Republican leader had not treated the first-term congresswoman and close Trump ally “properly.”

“She’s been a very good supporter of mine, and I’m a supporter of hers. And I don’t think Kevin has treated her properly,” Trump told ABC News’s Jonathan Karl for his new book, “Betrayal,” according to Punchbowl News.

The book is set to be released on Tuesday.

Greene, who has previously touted QAnon conspiracy theories and been accused of endorsing violence against Democratic lawmakers, quickly became a lightning rod on Capitol Hill during her first year on the job and the target of Democrats’ ire, as well as a source of frustration for some Republicans.

She found herself on the receiving end of criticism from McCarthy in May, when the Republican leader blasted her for comparing the House’s rule on masks to the Holocaust.

McCarthy said Green was “wrong,” adding that her “intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling.”

“Let me be clear: the House Republican Conference condemns this language,” he said in a statement.

Greene publicly apologized for her comments the following month in remarks after she said she visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Greene, whom Trump previously dubbed a “future Republican Star,” also appeared to butt heads with McCarthy in January, when Greene announced on the first full day of the Biden administration that she was pursuing articles of impeachment against the president.

McCarthy said he called Greene and told her he disagreed with her course of action.

The House voted in February to strip Greene of her committee assignments as a rebuke for what Democrats described as her endorsing conspiracy theories, racist dogma and violence against Democratic politicians.

Eleven Republicans voted with Democrats to punish Greene for her actions, but McCarthy was not among them.

McCarthy had a close working relationship with Trump throughout his time in Washington and has since visited the former president at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. 

The two did, however, have a tense phone call as rioters were storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, when the president reportedly told the Republican leader, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”

The conversation was revealed by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), one of the 10 GOP House members to vote to impeach the president following the attack.

The Hill reached out to McCarthy for comment on Trump’s remarks.