# Kevin McCarthy: "Putin pays Trump" **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 18, 2017, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899 "2017-05-18T04:51:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/41 "2017-05-19T17:55:36Z")
> **[FBI feared Dana Rohrabacher was being recruited by Russia in 2012: report](https://www.salon.com/2017/05/19/fbi-feared-dana-rohrabacher-was-being-recruited-by-russia-in-2012-report/)** > > Dana Rohrabacher has been one of the most pro-Russia politicians in Washington Just a joke, not based in anything we know about (whistles…) ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/42 "2017-05-19T18:24:17Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > It is plainly obvious to everyone that it was a joke and everyone includes the Washington Post. There is literally no one making the argument that this was a serious statement. Huh? Did you not read the article linked to in the OP? > [@Washington Post](#): > > A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin. > > “There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016, exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia. > > House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy’s assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy. They absolutely are taking his comment as serious. I mean, they even said: > [@](#): > > It is difficult to tell from the recording the extent to which the remarks were meant to be taken literally. It’s not difficult at all. It was obviously a joke and should not be taken serious. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/43 "2017-05-19T18:36:05Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The 900 pound gorilla has taken up residence, and nothing gets done until it leaves. An actual gorilla in the Oval Office would be less absurd at this point, and would also do less damage to the status and reputation of the United States. > [@TriPolar](#): > > You are not alone. Joking is often a defense mechanism, we see the problem, we know we can’t do anything about, so we cope with humor. But in this case those guys could have done something about it. Paul Ryan can’t do anything. I mean, he could highlight the concerns and request that the Attorney General’s office appoint an independent counsel, and hold hearings on the findings, but his spine would collapse from the moral weight of such actions, and Paul Ryan has a spine made from marshmallows and peanut butter. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/44 "2017-05-19T18:49:33Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > This resonates with me as well. Sure it was a joke. But it did not come from a vacuum. They KNEW there was Russia connections with Trump. That’s the genesis of the joke. > > And they also KNEW that this was not a good thing, and should be kept under wraps. For the good of “the family”. Screw the country, who cares - the important thing is to protect the party. > [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > People make jokes about serious things all the time. That’s the whole point of jokes. … Not to get too nerdy here, but exactly … jokes are funny for one of several reasons, only one of which applies to the one under discussion: laughing is a release from the stress caused by something that makes us very uncomfortable. The joke is just a demonstrations of how uncomfortable the ideas that they were grappling with (that not only was Putin attempting to hack the election in favor of Trump but that there might be some collusion of the Trump campaign with that hack, along with the basic notion that Trump had become the face of their party at all, and that there were each to various degrees aiding and abetting each) were making them. But partisanship over country. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/45 "2017-05-19T18:53:57Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > An actual gorilla in the Oval Office would be less absurd at this point, and would also do less damage to the status and reputation of the United States. /snip Harambe for President 2020! ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/46 "2017-05-19T20:04:37Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Harambe for President 2020! Well, not a _dead_ gorilla, obviously. That would just be stupid; he’d just lay there and not shake Angela Merkel’s hand, either. Duh! Stranger ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/47 "2017-05-19T20:13:22Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Huh? Did you not read the article linked to in the OP? > > They absolutely are taking his comment as serious. I mean, they even said: > > It’s not difficult at all. It was obviously a joke and should not be taken serious. If it was clearly a “joke”, why the denials? Why didn’t the offices of Speaker Ryan and Leader McCarthy admit from the get-go that the comment was a “joke?” Further, you do understand that, just because it was said jokingly doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have reality attached to it, right? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/48 "2017-05-19T20:22:33Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > In Soviet Russia, blackmailer pays you! Thank you. This is exactly the sort of thing I was thinking of. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/49 "2017-05-19T20:25:24Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > People make jokes about serious things all the time. That’s the whole point of jokes. No, the whole point of jokes is say something funny. I could see myself laughing at that joke too…but only if I had a reason to think of Trump as Putin’s stooge. The joke isn’t funny if that association is absent or weak. We should be asking ourselves _why_ that association was strong enough in their mind to cause them all to laugh like that. Having some business relationships with Russian investors is one thing. But McCarthy implied much more than that. A joke like that in June 2016 should have been perceived as way from left field…unless they knew more about Trump than they are letting on. I wonder who leaked the tape. Any guesses? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/50 "2017-05-19T20:26:31Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > No, the whole point of jokes is say something funny. > > I could see myself laughing at that joke too…but only if I had a reason to think of Trump as Putin’s stooge. The joke isn’t funny if that association is absent or weak. > > We should be asking ourselves _why_ that association was strong enough in their mind to cause them all to laugh like that. Having some business relationships with Russian investors is one thing. But McCarthy implied much more than that. > > A joke like that in June 2016 should have been perceived as way from left field…unless they knew more about Trump than they are letting on. > > I wonder who leaked the tape. Any guesses? Best guess is Evan McMullen ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/51 "2017-05-19T20:40:01Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > If it was clearly a “joke”, why the denials? Why didn’t the offices of Speaker Ryan and Leader McCarthy admit from the get-go that the comment was a “joke?” I’m sorry, are you claiming that this wasn’t a joke? > [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Further, you do understand that, just because it was said jokingly doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have reality attached to it, right? :rolleyes: The statement “House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation” does not have any reality attached to it. It was obviously a joke and clearly not an assertion. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/52 "2017-05-19T21:12:27Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > No, the whole point of jokes is say something funny. > > I could see myself laughing at that joke too…but only if I had a reason to think of Trump as Putin’s stooge. The joke isn’t funny if that association is absent or weak. It’s funny/amusing only in the case that the target of the joke is perceived as having a weird fondness for Russia/Putin. So, yes, there obviously is some “truth” there in the sense that the people in the room noticed that, like I said before, he had an unusual or vocal liking for them. If people in the room thought it really was serious, it would certainly _not_ be funny, but, I’d image, rather seriously discussed. I mean, I’ve had conversations like this in the past. My cousin was bizarrely emotionally invested in Blackberries up until this year, to the point that he was posting their stock prices (he is not an investor) and every positive review he saw about them. I made some sort of comment like, “Mike, dude, with the way you’re posting, these guys must (or maybe ‘I hope these guys’, I can’t find my original comment) are paying you.” Did I really think Blackberry was paying him? Of course not. I could absolutely believe that the Trump comment was made in this sort of context, and I personally, as much as I despise Trump and have supported Hillary through the whole election, think this is the most plausible explanation for the statement and the laughter that followed. It is possible I may change my mind hearing the tape, but that’s my initial and continued reaction. I’m not going to hang my coat on this one, and I wouldn’t even include it in any sort of case against Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/53 "2017-05-19T21:17:47Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Best guess is Evan McMullen People are saying it. Not Paul Ryan, though. He won’t say it. But there are people saying it. To me, the following “Swear to God” and Ryan’s invoking of d’ohmerta lend credence to it not being intended as a joke. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/54 "2017-05-19T22:58:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s funny/amusing only in the case that the target of the joke is perceived as having a weird fondness for Russia/Putin. So, yes, there obviously is some “truth” there in the sense that the people in the room noticed that, like I said before, he had an unusual or vocal liking for them. If people in the room thought it really was serious, it would certainly _not_ be funny, but, I’d image, rather seriously discussed. > > I mean, I’ve had conversations like this in the past. My cousin was bizarrely emotionally invested in Blackberries up until this year, to the point that he was posting their stock prices (he is not an investor) and every positive review he saw about them. I made some sort of comment like, “Mike, dude, with the way you’re posting, these guys must (or maybe ‘I hope these guys’, I can’t find my original comment) are paying you.” Did I really think Blackberry was paying him? Of course not. I could absolutely believe that the Trump comment was made in this sort of context, and I personally, as much as I despise Trump and have supported Hillary through the whole election, think this is the most plausible explanation for the statement and the laughter that followed. > > It is possible I may change my mind hearing the tape, but that’s my initial and continued reaction. I’m not going to hang my coat on this one, and I wouldn’t even include it in any sort of case against Trump. Perhaps. But… who is the other guy, how was he “being paid” by Putin, and is that what links him to the President? ETA: Rohrabacher was the GOP Congressman who was approached by the Russians in 2012. A big Trump supporter and also a guy who is “soft” on Moscow. [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/dana-rohrabacher-russia-spies.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/dana-rohrabacher-russia-spies.html) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/55 "2017-05-19T23:04:27Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > … d’ohmerta… :golf clap: ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/56 "2017-05-19T23:46:31Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I mean, I’ve had conversations like this in the past. My cousin was bizarrely emotionally invested in Blackberries up until this year, to the point that he was posting their stock prices (he is not an investor) and every positive review he saw about them. I made some sort of comment like, “Mike, dude, with the way you’re posting, these guys must (or maybe ‘I hope these guys’, I can’t find my original comment) are paying you.” Did I really think Blackberry was paying him? Of course not. Yes, and I’ve been involved in little joke sessions where “they’re having an affair” was the focus. No one was seriously suggesting the two people were having an affair, they just hung out together conspicuously so “ha ha”. Guess what? They were having an affair and everybody was a little less than surprised. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/57 "2017-05-20T00:43:35Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Yes, and I’ve been involved in little joke sessions where “they’re having an affair” was the focus. No one was seriously suggesting the two people were having an affair, they just hung out together conspicuously so “ha ha”. Guess what? They were having an affair and everybody was a little less than surprised. That fits into my interpretation, too. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/58 "2017-05-20T00:52:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That fits into my interpretation, too. Not really. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/59 "2017-05-20T02:18:45Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I mean, I’ve had conversations like this in the past. My cousin was bizarrely emotionally invested in Blackberries up until this year, to the point that he was posting their stock prices (he is not an investor) and every positive review he saw about them. I made some sort of comment like, “Mike, dude, with the way you’re posting, these guys must (or maybe ‘I hope these guys’, I can’t find my original comment) are paying you.” Did I really think Blackberry was paying him? Of course not. I could absolutely believe that the Trump comment was made in this sort of context, and I personally, as much as I despise Trump and have supported Hillary through the whole election, think this is the most plausible explanation for the statement and the laughter that followed. Okay, but there are reasons why the situations aren’t exactly analogous. For example, your cousin probably wasn’t applying to be the CEO of Apple at the time that you joked about him. You probably weren’t high-level executives at Apple, either. And you definitely didn’t swear everyone to secrecy about the joke. Like I said, it’s Ryan’s hush-up that concerns me more. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899/60 "2017-05-20T02:24:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Like I said, it’s Ryan’s hush-up that concerns me more. It’s only Ryan’s hush-up that concerns me. From transcript only (no tone of voice or body language), it sounds like people who don’t like Trump (I don’t think he was the establishment pick) making fun of him and his populism. Even if serious, dialog indicates it to be speculation only, without any evidence as basis. Ryan’s hush-up bothers me, because he seems to be taking it more seriously than the others. But then, maybe that’s because he was aware Trump would likely be the candidate and wanted to keep on good terms and not give newspapers any ammunition or whatnot. Can’t be sure. But definitely the original one to bring forth the idea just seems to be speculating, not know anything or have evidence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-mccarthy-putin-pays-trump/786899.md?page=4)