Oh, how fast things have fallen for Kevin McCarthy. One morning, he’s vehemently denying claims, published in a new book by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, that he said he would ask Donald Trump to resign, shortly after the former president goaded a mob into storming the U.S. Capitol. And then later that night, he’s immediately proven wrong—by a recording of him actually saying: “I think [an impeachment resolution] will pass, and it would be my recommendation that you resign.” Suddenly, all of his defenses slagging the Times fell flat: one can’t particularly blame the “corporate media” for pushing a falsehood if they’re actually right. Overnight, McCarthy’s presumed likelihood to become House Speaker later this year, when the G.O.P. assumedly wins the House, was instantaneously second-guessed.