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In late February 2026, Snopes readers asked us about videos of Internet users hearing unidentified voices reading the alleged transcript of a phone call between two Republican politicians, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
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In the call, McConnell and McCarthy allegedly Bringing back slavery, building state-funded religious schools, banning abortion, curbing immigration, and forcibly impregnating eighth graders were discussed.
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We find no credible evidence that the transcript was authentic or that any such conversation between McConnell and McCarthy ever took place. The claim is baseless.
In February 2026, social media users wrote to Snopes on Instagram, asking about listening to videos of Internet users. Audio clip (archived) of an alleged transcript of a phone call between Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The transcripts document discussions on measures to ban abortion, curb immigration, create state-funded religious schools, bring back slavery, and impregnate eighth graders.
One of the Instagram users posted a video of himself listening to the transcript wrote In text superimposed on the clip, “Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy talk about bringing back slavery and making it mandatory for 8th graders to get pregnant in order to graduate.”
The claim was also circulated X (archived), Facebook (archived), Bluesky (archived) and Reddit (archived).
We find no evidence that the audio clips or transcripts represent an authentic conversation between McConnell and McCarthy.
We did not find any reputable news sources reporting the “leaked” transcript (archive, archive, archive, archive), which would have been extremely newsworthy if true. Although both McConnell and McCarthy had previously voted against federal protections for abortion, a shared opinion for their party, neither had publicly expressed views or plans on other policy points such as slavery and state-funded religious education that were reportedly discussed on the call.
We reached out to representatives of McConnell and McCarthy to ask if the transcripts read in the videos are true and await answers to our questions.
The full transcript of the alleged phone call, which was read by an unidentified voice, was as follows:
OK, so I got the transcripts.
Mitch: We have to bring back slavery. Those were the good old days.
Kevin: How do we do that, there’s no way we can do that.
Mitch: Black people won’t do it but white people will.
Kevin: How do we enslave white people? That sounds ridiculous.
Mitch: We have to get rid of the separation of church and state. We should have state funded religious schools.
Kevin: I don’t see where you’re getting at.
Mitch: Those schools will have work programs for fourth through eighth grade.
Kevin: Ah, I think I see where you’re going. How is that going to work?
Mitch: We get to pick all the produce as part of their work program to teach the kids the value of good, old-fashioned blue-collar labor and God’s reward.
Kevin: I don’t think anyone would go for that.
Mitch: It’s all about grooming, start in first grade and by fourth grade they’ll be ready to do it.
Kevin: But we already have people to choose the product.
Mitch: We have to finish the wall.
Kevin: No way it’s going to happen.
Mitch: We find better ways to get immigrants out of the United States.
Kevin: Like to double ICE?
Mitch: Yes.
Kevin: It’s going to be very busy, very difficult and we’re going to be very busy trying to sustain it over the long term and generations.
Mitch: No, we get rid of abortion laws in the United States and we make it mandatory for all eighth-grade girls to be impregnated in order to graduate.
Kevin: Oh, like crop replacement. Ha ha ha Re-purposed.
Also Kevin: I will work to get abortion banned, you work on state-funded religious schools.
Mitch: We don’t have to either. Lindsey and I took care of it with the new SCOTUS.
“Lindsey” was an apparent reference to Lindsey Graham, the senior senator from South Carolina and fellow Republican. “SCOTUS” is a common abbreviation for the Supreme Court of the United States.
Versions of the alleged phone call shared online were sparse on details about when the conversation took place. Some said the recording was from July 2022, but did not back up this claim. Online postings have no further information on who leaked the alleged call and why.
McConnell and McCarthy on abortion, slavery, school choice
As stated above, Snopes found no evidence that the alleged call between McConnell and McCarthy was genuine, nor did the calls appear to reflect the politicians’ publicly expressed views.
Both McConnell and McCarthy voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have “restricted . Government Restrictions on the Provision of and Access to Abortion Services.” Bill passed the house in 2021 but failed Senate In 2022.
Since then, McConnell has said Abortion should be addressed at the state level, not the federal level. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce and ultimately end abortion in the U.S., rated both. McConnell and McCarthy “A+.”
Both McConnell and McCarthy have historically opposed slavery, the central theme of the alleged call, on their social media accounts. McCarthy spoke (archived) of the “evil” of slavery in 2019. That same year, McConnell wrote (archived) “About Slavery A stain on our history” In X. However, McConnell had done it before opposition The idea of reparations for slavery, in 2019 he didn’t think “reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for which none of us living now are responsible, is a good idea.”
Finally, McConnell reportedly advocated “state-funded religious schools” in the phone call transcript. These schools, he allegedly argued, would be the basis of a renewed anti-slavery project, as students would participate in action programs. In reality, McConnell Historically Strong advocate for school choice, co-authored opinion a piece In 2013 it argued that “choice breeds competition – which is the best way to improve schools”, which seems to be at odds with the advocacy of forced attendance in state-funded schools.
This wasn’t the first rumor Snopes had investigated about McConnell or McCarthy. For example, we looked at claims earlier McConnell He said he would not participate in the 2020 election debates that included female moderators and that photo was shown as evidence. McCarthy Seeing as he lost the vote for Speaker
Sources:
Blad, Ev. “Senate GOP sticks to school choice push on slimmed-down relief proposal.” Education Week, 8 September 2020. www.edweek.org, https://www.edweek.org/education/senate-gop-sticks-to-school-choice-push-in-slimmed-down-relief-proposal/2020/09.
Chu, Judy. “HR3755 – Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021.” Congress.Gov, 6 Aug. 2021, https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3755.
Huffington Post: Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Sens. Op-ed by Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Tim Scott and Lamar Alexander: School Choice: Part of the Solution to Our Broken Education System | US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. 29 July 2013, https://www.help.senate.gov/chair/newsroom/news/huffington-post-op-ed-by-senate-republican-leader-mitch-mcconnell-sens-rand-paul-mike-lee-tim-scott-and-lamar-alexander-school-choice-part-of-the-emsour-system-to-sour-
“McConnell Equals Slave Ownership of His Forefathers to Obama.” AP News, 9 July 2019, https://apnews.com/article/a7bab51c3e324ee5bbc55a48b683d1a7.
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