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By Andrew Stanton
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Representative Kevin McCarthy was fact-checked about American history after saying the United States "never asked for land" after winning wars in a social media post.
"Think for one moment. In every single war that America has fought, we have never asked for land afterward—except for enough to bury the Americans who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom," McCarthy, the Republican who was ousted as speaker of the House last month, posted to X, formerly Twitter, Sunday night.
Critics pointed out that the U.S. won large swathes of its present-day territory, including McCarthy's home state of California, after victory in wars. The Mexican-American War, for instance, ended in parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah being handed over from Mexico to the U.S.
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Washington also won the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War, though the Philippines has since become independent.
A community note on X fact-checked McCarthy's post. The note reads, "The US has acquired numerous territories through conflict, including: 1848, Mexico ceded 55% of its territory: 1898, Spain ceded Guam, Puerto Rico & The Philippines. 1899, US acquires American Samoa after the 2nd Samoan Civil War."
Newsweek reached out to McCarthy's office for comment via email.
McCarthy's post sparked a wave of ridicule and criticisms, with social media users slamming the former House speaker for his comment.
Historian Joshua Zeitz wrote on X, "This guy represents California in Congress — one of 9 current states whose territory the US won in part or whole during the Mexican War of 1848."
"These guys spent so much time erasing American history that they forgot to read it," wrote BET host Marc Lamont Hill.
"I haven't talked about him much since he became irrelevant but in case you forgot, Kevin McCarthy is still a blathering idiot who knows nothing of our nation's history and loves nothing more than the sound of his own voice," Representative Sean Casten, an Illinois Democrat, posted on X.
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"The US didn't exist until 1776. Every inch of US land was taken from some other country/nation/tribe. Kevin McCarthy is showing here that he's either a liar or an idiot, and either way, people shouldn't be listening to a word he has to say," high school teacher Matt Grover wrote.
McCarthy served as the House leader until October when Representative Matt Gaetz filed a motion to vacate the position amid conservative outrage that McCarthy worked with Democrats to pass a temporary bill to keep the government open through November. Eight Republicans voted alongside Democrats to remove McCarthy as speaker.
House Republicans ultimately rallied behind now-House Speaker Mike Johnson to become the next speaker following weeks of internal turmoil about who should lead the party.
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