Thread by @JakeSherman

This is going to be particularly gutting for @GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy, who is very, very close to hurd

a quick story on this ...

@GOPLeader I was traveling w McCarthy right before the election last yr when i was reporting my book, and we were in Texas for a particularly brutal and busy stretch.

In one day, McCarthy was in Houston, Austin and San Antonio.

SAT was last stop: a dinner reception w Lamar Smith and Hurd

at the dinner — in a stuffy SAT social club — Hurd came up to McCarthy and said hey , if you aren’t too tired, can you come to see my sister at a bowling league she’s in downtown?

mind you, this was in the middle of a non-stop stretch 18 hours into McCarthy’s day.

McCarthy said yes. it was pretty late in the evening. immediately, Capitol Police scrambled to get to the venue. everyone with McCarthy knew that he liked Hurd so much that he would do anything for him.

Looking back on my notes — most of this didnt make it into the book — McCarthy frequently spoke about Hurd.

At a fundraiser in El Paso days before the 2018 election: "Will Hurd is always challenged, but he sets himself apart."