The pressure is building on Liz Cheney as her continued insistence on making her anti-Trump crusade front and center grates on her colleagues.

(related Liz Cheney Does Liz Cheney Things Again, and Her Colleagues Are Just About Done)

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was on Fox News discussing the issue, and while he was diplomatic on camera, a hot mic caught him dropping some truth on the subject.

HOT MIC: McCarthy Allegedly Says He’s ‘Had It’ With Liz Cheney Off-Air On Fox Newshttps://t.co/hCxv0x8QSm

— The Federalist (@FDRLST) May 4, 2021

However, as Axios reported, McCarthy went further in his comments off air to Doocy.

“I think she’s got real problems,” McCarthy allegedly said prior to his interview. “I’ve had it with her. You know, I’ve lost confidence. … Well, someone just has to bring a motion, but I assume that will probably take place.”

Hey, most Republican voters have had it with Cheney so I’d like to cordially welcome McCarthy to the party. Drinks are in the corner.

Seriously, though, while I’m sure he’s done everything he could to smooth things over to this point, McCarthy is now in a position to have to do what’s best for his caucus. Right now, Cheney is obsessed with January 6th and making everything about Trump. The rest of her colleagues just want to unite and move forward to 2022, where they have strong tailwinds to retake the House. Cheney is spending every weekend going on left-wing news programs and making that goal harder to achieve.

(related Liz Cheney Plays the Fool After Anti-Trump ‘Bombshell’ Collapses)

McCarthy understands that, and he’s absolutely doing the right thing here by taking the gloves off, both publicly and in this hot mic moment. He stood beside Cheney early on when she bucked the caucus and made a big push for impeachment. All she’s done since is stab him in the back, and a person can only take so much.

As I’ve said before, being a Republican in leadership doesn’t require making Donald Trump the center of the universe. What it does require is shutting up about him at some point. The GOP’s identity cannot be and never will be Never Trumpism. That would be absolute political suicide. It’s also just dumb. There are far more important battles to fight than continuing to virtue signal about January 6th.

McCarthy gets that, and whether he’s your favorite Republican or not, he’s taking the lead in a way that is absolutely necessary.