众议员凯文·麦卡锡正在反思他的国会生涯以及他今年早些时候的下台从众议院议长，一个不光彩的转折，帮助迎来了他的即将辞职.
在…里周日播出的哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访加州共和党人麦卡锡(McCarthy)表示，他一直意识到，他可能不会一直拿着自己的小木槌，但他很享受这份工作，因为他把这个地方比作“卡车停靠站”，而不是“乡村俱乐部”。
这座房子是“社会的缩影，所以社会中所有好的和坏的东西都会在这里，”他说。
“我从来没有说过我不想要这份工作。我喜欢挑战。我当时就知道，我可能无法结束这份工作，不是以我的方式。我知道我在和谁打交道。我认为历史会说他们的决定是错误的，”麦卡锡说，他指的是帮助策划他被降职的八名共和党人——这是第一次有议长被这样免职。
尽管如此，他还是对自己的成绩表现出了信心，他说，“我有幸在这里工作了17年，我是建立两个多数党的一部分。”
“我来自加利福尼亚。我生长在一个民主党家庭。我申请了一个国会席位的实习机会，但被拒绝了，”他说。“现在，我当选了那个我连实习机会都没有的席位，我成了众议院第55任议长。告诉我在其他任何国家这是可能的。”
然而，他不会完全排除明年支持反对他的八名共和党诽谤者的初选，包括佛罗里达州众议员马特·盖兹，只是说他“不专注于此”
麦卡锡的议长任期于2023年初触礁当共和党花了15个回合把反对盖尔兹领导的一群反叛者的木槌交给他，盖尔兹仍然是一个激烈的批评家。
这位加州人最终面临一项要求他下台的动议，此前他同意了一项临时政府拨款法案，该法案不包括由盖兹领导的强硬派要求的大幅削减支出。
当在哥伦比亚广播公司的采访中被问及他对盖兹的看法时，麦卡锡只是说，“我认为历史会证明马特·盖兹到底是谁。”
前众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡(共和党)与媒体成员交谈，他与众议院共和党人一起到达候选人论坛，听取竞选美国众议院议长的成员的意见...显示更多undefined
Mandel Ngan/AFP通过Getty Images，文件
麦卡锡的未来现在还不清楚，因为他将在本月晚些时候离任，距离他的任期还有一年多。他的退出也削弱了他的政党已经微弱的多数，只剩下几票了。
然而，他明确表达了对前总统唐纳德·特朗普的看法，他曾在1月6日批评过特朗普，但后来接受了他。
在接受哥伦比亚广播公司(CBS)的离职采访时，他支持特朗普重返白宫——“如果(乔·拜登)继续成为民主党的提名人，我相信唐纳德·特朗普会赢”——并表示他会考虑加入未来的特朗普政府，担任一些内阁职务。
“如果我是这份工作的最佳人选，是的，”当被问及这种可能性时，他说。“我们一起努力赢得多数。但我们也有一种非常坦诚的关系。”
尽管如此，麦卡锡表示，特朗普做出调整将是明智的他的2024年竞选信息更关注于“恢复”这个国家，而不是他所预见的“惩罚”。
“特朗普总统在这场竞选中需要做的，需要是重建、恢复、振兴美国。这不可能是报复，”麦卡锡说。“他需要阻止这一切。”
“但那是他。我不会改变自己，也不会停止给他建议，”麦卡锡补充道。“而且，瞧，我丢掉了议长的工作。可能我没有最好的建议。”
Kevin McCarthy looks back at career, including historic removal as House speaker
Rep. Kevin McCarthy is reflecting on his congressional careerand his ouster earlier this yearfrom the House speakership, an inglorious twist that helped usher in hisupcoming resignation.
Inan interview with CBS News that aired Sunday, McCarthy, a California Republican, suggested he'd always recognized he might not keep his gavel as long as he'd like but that he enjoyed the job while it lasted in a place he likened to less of a "country club" than a "truck stop."
The House is "a microcosm of society, so everything good and bad in society is gonna be here," he said.
"I never said I didn't want this job. I love the challenge. I knew at the time I probably wouldn't be able to end the job, not on my terms. I knew who I was dealing with. I think history will say they were wrong in that decision," McCarthy said, referencing the eight Republicans who helped engineer his demotion -- the first time a speaker had ever been removed that way.
Still, he projected confidence about his track record, saying, "I've had the privilege of being here 17 years, and I got to be a part of building two majorities."
"I come from California. I grew up in a family that were Democrats. I applied for [an] internship in a congressional seat -- I got turned down," he said. "And now, I got elected to that seat I couldn't get an internship for and I got to be the 55th speaker of the House. Tell me any other country is that possible in."
He wouldn't, however, totally rule out supporting primary bids against his eight Republicans detractors next year, including Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, only saying he's "not focused on that."
McCarthy's speakership started on the rocks in early 2023when it took Republicans 15 roundsto hand him the gavel over the objections of a group of rebels, led by Gaetz, who remained a fierce critic.
The Californian ultimately faced a motion for his removal after agreeing to a temporary government funding bill that didn't include the significant spending cuts that hard-liners, again led by Gaetz, had demanded.
When asked in his CBS interview what he thinks of Gaetz, McCarthy simply said, "I think history will show who Matt Gaetz really is."
McCarthy's future is now unclear as he leaves his seat later this month, more than a year before his term is up. His exit also weakens his party's already narrow majority, with just a few votes to spare.
However, he did make clear his views on former President Donald Trump, whom he had once criticized in the wake of Jan. 6 but then embraced.
In his exit interview with CBS, he endorsed Trump's comeback bid for the White House -- "if [Joe] Biden stays as the nominee for the Democrats, I believe Donald Trump will win" -- and said he would consider joining a future Trump administration in some Cabinet role.
"If I'm the best person for the job, yes," he said when asked about such a possibility. "We worked together to win the majority. But we also have a relationship where we're very honest with each other."
Still, McCarthy said Trump would be wise to tweakhis 2024 campaign messaging, focusing more on "restoring" the country rather than the "retribution" he's been previewing.
"What President Trump needs to do in this campaign, it needs to be about rebuilding, restoring, renewing America. It can't be about revenge," McCarthy said. "He needs to stop that."
"But that's him. I'm not going to change who I am, and I'm not going to stop giving him the advice," McCarthy added. "And, look, I lost the job of speaker. Maybe I don't have the best advice."
