McCarthy Speaks Out After Report Says He’s Renting Room From Pollster Frank Luntz

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks during his weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 18, 2021. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday confirmed that he rented a room from pollster Frank Luntz after Fox News’ Tucker Carlson reported on the development the night before.

Carlson, in a segment, suggested McCarthy may be violating House ethics rules by living “with a lobbyist for Google.”

McCarthy told Fox News that “Frank has been a friend of mine for more than 30 years. I met him with Newt Gingrich back when they were working on the Contract with America.”

He added: “And so, yes, I’ve rented a room from Frank for a couple of months, but don’t worry, I’m back to—going back to where I normally am, on my couch in my office. But, yes, we pay fair market rate.”

McCarthy also downplayed concerns from Carlson about Luntz being a lobbyist.

Professor and consultant Frank Luntz smiles as he speaks to students with the U.S. secretary of state at the NYU Abu Dhabi campus in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 13, 2019. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/ POOL/AFP via Getty Images

“Well, Frank’s not a lobbyist. Frank’s a friend I knew 15 years before I ever got in and I just rented a room for a few months there. So I don’t see that there’s any problem along that line,” McCarthy responded during his Fox News interview. “But I'd like to see everybody stay together. Let’s work to make sure we put people back to work, back to health, back to school. Stop this woke movement that’s going on.”

Carlson, however, suggested on his show that McCarthy may “listen more carefully to Frank Luntz” than his Republican constituents. It came days after the Fox News host also said that Luntz, a noted critic of former President Donald Trump, for years “has told elected Republicans what to say and precisely how to say it. Luntz massages language for politicians.”

Carlson has often questioned Republican establishment leaders in Washington.

“He seems upset. I think he and Tucker must dislike each other, and I don’t think that’s right,” McCarthy told Fox News of Luntz. “They need to get together and solve whatever difficulties because we’ve got to make sure that we put this country back on the right track. We were so successful under President Trump, and what President Biden is doing today—the last thing we want to do is be fighting among ourselves.”