On Wake County stop, House Minority Leader McCarthy rips FBI raid on Trump's home

FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C. (WTVD) -- House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was in Fuquay-Varina on Tuesday, making a campaign appearance with congressional hopeful Bo Hines.

The two toured a farm in North Carolina's 13th Congressional District, which Hines, a Republican is seeking to represent.

While in Wake County, ABC11 asked McCarthy about the FBI raid Monday on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

"You've never done this to a former president," McCarthy said. "So if this was going to be the case, shouldn't the attorney general lay out to the American people today, shouldn't that have been the very first thing explaining why, why would you go to this level? Without just communicating? That's what's different to me. Why would you have them wait? So many questions? I think all of America's asking."

McCarthy took to Twitter on Monday night with a stern reaction to the news, saying in part that he had "had enough" and vowed to conduct "immediate oversight of this department" assuming Republicans regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November.

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, also issued a statement blasting the unprecedented action against a former president's home.

"The American people's faith in the Department of Justice has been eroding due to the perception that political considerations can override the fair application of the law," Tillis said. "The FBI's search of former President Trump's home will further fuel this distrust, especially when the DOJ has provided no transparency on the process or level of merit behind the decision. The optics are especially disturbing considering that Presidents Biden and Trump are past and potentially future political opponents.

"The DOJ owes the American people a thorough explanation regarding their decision-making process, including the release of the warrant, the warrant application, and why they decided to execute this search when President Trump's lawyers were already cooperating with the National Archives," Tillis said. "We desperately need Congress to provide robust oversight and accountability to ensure partisan politics are not dictating decisions at the DOJ."

Meanwhile, Trump himself took to Truth Social, his social media platform on Tuesday and called the raid "a horrible thing that took place yesterday at Mar-a-Lago."

The former president also wrote that the actions were akin to a "third world country, a banana republic."

The White House has not made any direct statements about the raid and has referred all questions to the Department of Justice.

ABC11's Jamiese Price contributed to this report.