House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Friday he supports the idea of ​​overturning Donald Trump’s two impeachments as far-right Republican allies of the former president put forward a pair of proposals

treat to explain it as if

the historical costs

like them

never happened.

McCarthy told reporters he agrees with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Elise Stefanik, who want to erase charges against Trump from his 2019 and 2021 impeachments.

I think it’s appropriate, McCarthy said

(R-Bakersfield)

. Just like before I thought you should scrap it because it should never have happened.

Pressed by his opinion, McCarthy said he agreed with the dropping of both Trump allegations, the 2019 abuse of power allegations for urging Ukraine’s president to dig up dirt on rival Joe Biden, and the accusation from 2021 that Trump had incited the January 6, 2021 riot. in the Capitol as his supporters tried to overturn Biden’s election.

In both cases, Trump was accredited by the

Republican led

Senate after his impeachment

Democratically led

House. But while he seeks another term in the White House, he could claim further justification if the charges are dropped from his record.

The attempt is the latest attempt by Trump’s allies to rewrite the narrative of the defeated president’s tenure. And it underscores the pressure McCarthy is under from his right flank.

UPDATE FOR PRINTING

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this week

6/22

McCarthy put a proposal from Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) to sideline President Biden and sent it to committees for review.

In explaining his view, McCarthy said he believed Trump’s first impeachment, in 2019, should never have happened, confusing it with a separate Justice Department investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

As for the 2021 trial that was swiftly conducted the week after the attack on the Capitol, he said the second impeachment did not have a fair trial.

The speaker gave no indication that he would act quickly to advance the proposals of Greene (R-Ga.) and Stefanik (RN.Y.), the chamber’s fourth GOP leader, for House votes. pressed

or

the proposals were a priority, he shifted to listing other GOP goals.

requested

or

he had talked to Trump about scrapping the impeachment record, McCarthy said he hadn’t.

Trump, who is campaigning to return to the White House, is the first president in US history to be impeached twice by the House.

Democrats have defended their decision to swiftly impeach Trump for a second time after a mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol in 2021. to the Capitol as Congress confirmed Biden’s election.

Trump was first impeached in 2019 after it was revealed that he encouraged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to dig up political dirt on then-White House rival Biden while Trump withheld US military aid to Ukraine over Russian aggression.