McCarthy claimed Trump was depressed, stopped eating after 2020 loss, Cheney’s book says

Stung by his 2020 election loss, Donald Trump allegedly stopped eating and grew depressed after his White House departure, prompting his staffers to encourage Rep. Kevin McCarthy to visit him at his Florida estate, according to an upcoming book by his ex-House colleague Liz Cheney.

McCarthy (R-Calif.) purportedly made the claim while defending his trek to Mar-a-Lago three weeks after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Furious at the visit, then-House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) confronted him about the trip.

“Mar-a-Lago? What the hell, Kevin?” Cheney chided, according to her upcoming book previewed by CNN.

“They’re really worried,” McCarthy replied. “Trump’s not eating, so they asked me to come see him.”

“What? You went to Mar-a-Lago because Trump’s not eating?” Cheney asked.

“Yeah, he’s really depressed,” McCarthy responded.

Cheney also accused McCarthy of lying repeatedly. A Trump spokesperson vehemently denied her tale.

Former President Donald Trump and GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy met in Mar-a-Lago just weeks after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in 2021. Kevin McCarthy Congress

“Liz Cheney is a loser who is now lying in order to sell a book that either belongs in the bargain bin of the fiction section or should be repurposed as toilet paper,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told The Post.

“These are nothing more than completely fabricated stories because President Trump is the clear frontrunner to be the Republican nominee and the strongest candidate to beat Crooked Joe Biden. Liz clearly suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome and needs to address the underlying issues in her own personal life.”

A spokesperson for McCarthy echoed much of that sentiment toward Cheney, but stopped short of a flat denial.

“For Cheney, first it was Trump Derangement Syndrome, and now apparently it’s also McCarthy Derangement Syndrome,” the spokesperson said.

McCarthy had been irate at Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters ransacked the Capitol, according to CNN.

In a local radio interview days later, McCarthy recounted a phone call with the former president in the thick of the riot.

“I was the first person to call him,” he said on KERN. “I asked the president, he has a responsibility. You know what the president does, but you know what? All of us do.”

Mar-a-Lago is Donald Trump’s prized resort in Palm Beach, Fla. AP

On Jan. 28, 2021, McCarthy trekked down to Trump’s prized estate in Palm Beach and seemingly patched things up with the GOP heavyweight.

The pair discussed topics such as strategies for Republicans to retake a majority in the House of Representatives, according to a public statement at the time.

That meeting had been much maligned by Democratic critics and Cheney, who served as the vice chair of the now-defunct Select Committee on Jan. 6.

Several months later, in May of 2021, Cheney was booted from her perch as House Republican Conference Chair, the No. 3 House Republican slot at the time.

Donald Trump is the 2024 GOP frontrunner. Ron Sachs – CNP

McCarthy was ousted as speaker last month in a mutiny that Cheney praised.

Her book, “Oath and Honor” is set to hit bookshelves on Dec. 5.