In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot, former President Donald Trump remains the commanding figure within his Republican Party. A new book however details how some of the GOP's most powerful members privately fumed over his actions and mused over ways to see him exit the scene.

On Thursday, excerpts from an upcoming book by New York Times journalists Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future," show how Republican leaders reacted with umbrage to what they saw as his reckless encouragement of the angry mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol Building.

Chief among them was House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who publicly said Trump “bears responsibility” for inciting violence against lawmakers that day. In private, McCarthy discussed plans to encourage Trump to resign and other avenues, including invoking the 25th Amendment -- a never invoked process where the vice president and cabinet would remove a president from office.

“I’ve had it with this guy,” McCarthy reportedly told a group of senior Republicans. “What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that and nobody should defend it."

According to the journalists, McCarthy also vented his frustration towards a small group of fervent Trump supporters. At one point, the House Minority Leader even expressed hope that Twitter would de-platform Trump and the firebrands who supported his lies about the November 2020 presidential election.

For all of McCarthy’s outrage, it did not take long for him to publicly backtrack on his views of Trump and his supporters.

Less than a month after Jan. 6, McCarthy visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida where the two were photographed together. After Twitter upheld a ban on Trump’s account in May 2021, McCarthy promised to “rein in big tech’s power over our speech." He also slammed Twitter for its decision to ban Trump loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., last January over repeated violations of its policies on misinformation about COVID-19.

It is widely believed that McCarthy aims to become Speaker of the House after the midterm elections in November when Republicans have a strong chance to regain Congress.

At the same time, Trump is also weighing a run for the White House in 2024 and it has been reported he will reach a decision depending on the outcome of the midterms.

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