Kevin McCarthy BRUTALLY Fact-Checked By Community Notes

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) posted a short clip to X of his remarks at The Oxford Union from his participation in the prestigious debating society on Nov. 13th. Both in the caption of the video and the clip itself, he forwarded a historically inaccurate view that “In every single war that America has fought, we have never asked for land afterward.” McCarthy was brutally fact-checked in the replies and by extensive community notes.

Debating the topic of American interventionism at Oxford, McCarthy made the dubious claim.

“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.”

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. pic.twitter.com/XbReeVvWPX

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) November 27, 2023

As reported previously by Trending Politics, the embattled former Speaker is already facing ethics complaints stemming from an alleged altercation on Nov. 15th and likely didn’t need this added controversy.

The resulting fact-checks were rapid and devastating as many reminded him that America’s history is replete with military victories and yes, great conquests. One commenter observed that the very Congressional District Rep. McCarthy represents was itself conquered from Mexico during the Mexican-American War of 1848, a conquest that saw all of then-northern Mexico ceded to the U.S. comprising much of the modern Southwest.

The district McCarthy represents was conquered and became part of the US after the Mexican-American War in 1848. pic.twitter.com/1eJXRspUFz

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) November 27, 2023

Fifty years later America went to war with Spain, taking possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. Puerto Rico and Guam remain American territories to this day.

McCarthy’s point could have been valid if he were to accurately quote former Secretary of Defense Colin Powell when he spoke of Europe after the World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam. Powell told MTV News in 2002,

“And when all those conflicts were over, what did we do? Did we stay and conquer? Did we say, “Okay, we defeated Germany. Now Germany belongs to us? We defeated Japan, so Japan belongs to us”? No. What did we do? We built them up. We gave them democratic systems which they have embraced totally to their soul. And did we ask for any land? No, the only land we ever asked for was enough land to bury our dead. And that is the kind of nation we are.”

But by presenting America in an artificial light of being of utter moral superiority he not only harmed his argument, opening himself to righteous ridicule, but also dishonored the United States and our storied history as a whole. Historians debate the grounds that the American government had to engage Mexico and Spain in the two respective wars even today, but to whitewash these victories brings shame to the very military that McCarthy is seeking to lionize.

Yes, much of our nation’s 19th-century expansionism was through conquest. We fought wars that historians and philosophers will debate the morality of forever, and we won them against both Native American Tribes and foreign nations alike, yet in all cases, as a nation our ancestors were merciful compared to their contemporaries.

• Mexico ceded territory, but it was not fully annexed as many in Washington, D.C. called for at the time. And total annexation was historically justifiable. Mexico’s defeat was total, its military and government were shattered. But instead, the U.S. sought peace and to rebuild our relationship with Mexico City.
• Spain presided over a vast colonial empire that was ruled with cruelty and slavery of the Taino, Cuban, and Phillipino people. Again, our nation’s conquest of these lands was complete, Spain’s naval capacity and colonial armies were utterly annihilated. Where other countries would have incorporated these territories into their nations, the U.S. ruled Cuba and the Philippines for four years and forty-seven years respectively before granting both independence.
• Puerto Rico has voted against independence as recently as 2017 in a controversial referendum, and another was authorized by Congress in 2022, but has yet to be conducted.
• In Guam, officials have appealed to Washington, D.C. for statehood as recently as 2021, while others have called for independence for the tiny Pacific island. However, the issue is complicated by the massive military infrastructure located on the strategic island, and the matter is still unsettled.

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