McCarthy says comments attributed to him in new book about Jan. 6, Trump 'totally false and wrong'

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is denying statement attributed to him in a forthcoming book about President Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

According to reporting from The Hill newspaper, McCarthy is calling the reporting in the upcoming book "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America's Future" by New York Times reporters Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin "totally false."

"What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that and nobody should defend it," McCarthy told fellow members of House leadership about Trump four days after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, according to a report of the book published Thursday in the Times.

The report also states McCarthy said he planned to tell Trump, whom critics say incited the riot, about the House impeachment vote: "I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign."

"The New York Times' reporting on me is totally false and wrong," the California Republican said Thursday morning in response. "It comes as no surprise that the corporate media is obsessed with doing everything it can to further a liberal agenda.

"This promotional book tour is no different. If the reporters were interested in truth why would they ask for comment after the book was printed?"

McCarthy, whose has had an off-and-on again relationship with Trump, hopes to become the chamber's next speaker, with Republicans poised to win control of the chamber in November.

"The past year and a half have proven that our country was better off when President Trump was in the White House, and rather than address the real issues facing Americans, the corporate media is more concerned with profiting from manufactured political intrigue from politically-motivated sources," McCarthy continued Thursday.

"Our country has suffered enough under failed one-party Democrat rule and no amount of media ignorance and bias will stop Americans from delivering a clear message this fall that it is time for change." 

Despite the strongly worded denial from McCarthy, whom critics say backed off attacking Trump for fear of retribution, Burns said Thursday morning on CNN that she was confident about her and Martin's sourcing for the book.