Michael Fanone, the former Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer who was critically injured in the Capitol riots, has offered a stunningly harsh rebuke of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Mr Fanone became famous after he responded to a call to help defend the US Capitol on 6 January of last year and was tazed by supporters of former president Donald Trump, which led to him having a heart attack. His book Hold the Line will be released next week on 11 October.
In a new profile for Rolling Stone, he criticises the leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives for lying his way through his meeting with Mr Fanone and the mother of Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after the riot.
“I think at night, when the lights are turned off, Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan have some pretty choice words to say about the fact that they have to hang on Kevin McCarthy’s wall,” he said. “They did some f**king above-average things. And they’ve got to adorn the wall of this f**king weasel b***h named Kevin McCarthy, with his fake f**king spray-on tan, whose f**king claim to fame, at least in my eyes, is the fact that he amassed a collection of Donald Trump’s favorite-flavored Starburst, put them in a Mason jar, and presented them to f**king Donald Trump. What the f**k, dude?”
Mr Fanone said he is writing the book because he is broke.
“I’m pretty sure that’s why people do things like this,” he said. “I said the things that I said for free and f**king destroyed my career, made my job untenable, and then tried to make hard lemonade out of lemons.”
He also noted that back in 2016, he voted for the former president.
“I’m cognizant of the fact that I talk like a f**king redneck, I wear camo-colored Crocs, I drive a f**king truck with camo seats, I like guns, I go hunting, I f**king drink beer from a can some places that I shouldn’t drink beer from a can at, and I’m kind of a caricature of what people think of when they think of a Trump-supporting hillbilly,” he said.
Mr McCarthy wasn’t the only target of Mr Fanone’s harsh words.
The former officer also called out notable GOP faces Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz and Josh Hawley.
Of Mr Hawley, a staunt Republican out of Missouri who was photographed raising his fist to Capitol rioters, Mr Fanone said: “He comes down there, flashes the sign of solidarity, riles up this f**king crowd.
“I would’ve had more respect for him if he said, ‘Charge,’ and f**king rushed the first f**king group of police officers that he could possibly f**king find. But he didn’t. He ran like a b***h as fast as he f**king could to the closest safe room in the f**king Capitol building.”
