Democrats can use Kevin McCarthy's tapes to divide and conquer GOP for midterm elections

What you see is what you get, unless it's the national leadership of the Republican Party. In that case, what you see is the opposite of what you get behind closed doors.

And with midterm elections coming up, that should make independent voters very nervous.

House GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky have lavished intense public support on Donald Trump. But with last week's release Rep. McCarthy's tapes secretly disparaging former President Trump, and new information about Sen. McConnell's private criticism of the former president, Democratic leadership has a unique opportunity.

Democrats must not lose the chance to exploit this interparty chaos among members of the opposition and pick up independent voters before the midterms.

Chaos is good ... for Democrats

The tapes show McCarthy in a bold-faced lie about his real views on the events of Jan. 6, 2021. The audio was from a call two days later with other House Republican leaders, including Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. McCarthy was recorded saying Trump's actions that Jan. 6 had been "atrocious and totally wrong."

McCarthy wasn't alone in his private rebukes of Trump.

According to the same New York Times reporting, after the event, McConnell said to a friend, “I didn’t get to be leader by voting with five people in the conference.” In other words, that is why he didn't do more to stand up for the democratic values of this country – being GOP leader matters more than silly things like law or democracy.

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On the same call, McCarthy also accused the former president of "inciting people" to seize the U.S. Capitol, and even went on to discuss invoking the 25th Amendment (which provides the mechanism with which the vice president and the Cabinet can remove the president from office). Further along in the call, McCarthy says, “I've had it with this guy," and that he'll tell Trump of the impeachment resolution: "I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign.”

The worst part of it for McCarthy is that he denied making those statements just hours before the leaked audio went public.

'Liar and a traitor'

Without missing a beat, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called McCarthy a "liar and a traitor" in Sunday's interview on CNN. She didn't stop there, adding that "this is outrageous, and that is the illness that pervades the Republican leadership right now. That they say one thing to the American public and something else in private."

Warren is spot on: The Republican Party's sectarian divide is no longer a secret. Democrats shouldn't waste time exploiting the embarrassing duplicitousness that racks the soul (or at least what's left of it) of the Republican Party.

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It's all about the independents

Increasingly, Americans are viewing themselves as independents. According to a 2021 Gallup poll, the group makes up the largest voting bloc in the United States: 42% identifying as independents, 29% as Democrats and 27% as Republicans.

While far-right GOP voters are firmly entrenched in their politics and will vote on party lines, independent and (later on) undecided voters present a unique opportunity for Democrats to grab in this November's midterm elections.

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Trump may be the de facto leader of the Republican Party but, internally, he appears to be far from beloved. By capitalizing on the sectarian split in the GOP, and the double-dealing of leaders like McCarthy and McConnell, Democrats can grab critical votes needed to keep congressional leadership firmly in party hands.

All is far from lost in the upcoming elections – the final swing of the pendulum will likely come down to independents. McCarthy and friends' perfidiousness and incessant vitriol could help move voters to the side of Democrats because, well, the GOP continues to underestimate American voters. We don't want to be hoodwinked or bamboozled, we don't want to be taken for a ride by our elected leaders. We want to know that our representatives stand for something ... other than themselves.

Carli Pierson is an attorney, former professor of human rights, writer and member of USA TODAY's Editorial Board. You can follow her on Twitter: @CarliPiersonEsq

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: McCarthy tapes can sway independent voters to Dems' side for midterms