Disproving alleged transcript of McConnell and Kevin McCarthy discussing 'bringing back slavery'
In the call, McConnell and McCarthy allegedly discussed bringing back slavery, creating state-funded religious schools, banning abortion, stemming immigration and the forced impregnation of eighth-graders.
We found no credible evidence that the transcript was authentic or that any such conversation between McConnell and McCarthy ever took place. The claim is unfounded.
In late July 2025, videos circulated on TikTok showing internet users listening to an audio clip (archived) of a voice reading an alleged transcript of a phone call between Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The two Republican politicians supposedly discussed banning abortion, stemming immigration, creating state-funded religious schools, bringing back slavery, and the forced impregnation of eighth graders.
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The claim also circulated on Facebook (archived), X (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived), YouTube and Reddit (archived). Snopes readers also wrote in to ask if the transcript featured in the videos was authentic.
We found no evidence whatsoever that the audio clip or transcript represented an authentic conversation between McConnell and McCarthy.
We found no reputable news sources reporting the "leaked" transcript (archived, archived, archived, archived), which would have been extremely newsworthy if true. Though McConnell and McCarthy both previously voted against federal protections for abortion, a common opinion for their party, neither had publicly expressed opinions or plans that aligned with the other supposed policy points like slavery and state-funded religious education allegedly discussed on the call.
We reached out to representatives for McConnell and McCarthy to ask if the transcript read out in the videos was genuine and await replies to our queries.
The full transcript of the alleged phone call, which an unidentified voice read out, was as follows:
OK, so I got the transcripts.
Mitch: We have to bring slavery back. Those were the good old days.
Kevin: How will we do that, there's no way we can do that.
Mitch: Black people won't do it but white people will.
Kevin: How will we get white people to be slaves? That sounds ridiculous.
Mitch: We have to get rid of the separation of church and state. We must 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 graders.
Kevin: Ah, I think I see where you're going here. How is that going to work?
Mitch: We get the kids to be — to pick all the produce as a part of their work program to teach them the values of good, old-fashioned blue-collar labor and the bounty of God.
Kevin: I don't think that anyone will go for that.
Mitch: It's all about grooming, start in the first grade and by fourth grade they'll be ready to do it.
Kevin: But we already have people to pick the produce.
Mitch: We have to finish the wall.
Kevin: No way that's going to happen.
Mitch: We find better ways to get the immigrants out of the United States.
Kevin: Like doubling ICE?
Mitch: Yes.
Kevin: This will be too busy, too hard and we'll be too busy trying to sustain this over long periods of time and generations.
Mitch: No, we get rid of the abortion laws in the United States and we make it mandatory that all eighth-grade females be impregnated in order to graduate.
Kevin: Oh, like replacing the crops. Ha ha ha. Pun intended.
Also Kevin: I will work on getting the abortion ban, you work on state-funded religious schools.
Mitch: We don't have to do either. Lindsey and I took care of that with the new SCOTUS.
"Lindsey" was an apparent reference to Lindsey Graham, the senior senator from South Carolina and a fellow Republican. "SCOTUS" is a common abbreviation for the Supreme Court of the United States.
The versions of the alleged phone call shared online were scant on details about when the conversation supposedly took place. Some said the recording was from July 2022, but did not back up this claim. Online postings contained no further information about who leaked the alleged call or 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 real, nor did the call seem to reflect the politicians' publicly expressed opinions.
McConnell and McCarthy both voted against the Women's Health Protection Act, which would "prohibit governmental restrictions on the provision of and access to abortion services." The bill passed the House in 2021 but failed in the Senate in 2022.
Since then, McConnell has said that abortion should be dealt with at a state rather than a federal level. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a nonprofit 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, a central theme of the alleged call, on their social media accounts. McCarthy spoke (archived) of the "evils" of slavery in 2019. That same year, McConnell wrote (archived) about "slavery's stain on our history" on X. However, McConnell did previously oppose the idea of reparations for slavery, saying in 2019 he didn't think "reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for whom none of us currently living are responsible, is a good idea."
Lastly, McConnell allegedly advocated for "state funded religious schools" in the phone call transcript. These schools, he allegedly argued, would be the basis for the renewed slavery project, as students would participate in work programs. In reality, McConnell has historically been a strong advocate for school choice, co-authoring an opinion piece in 2013 that argued "Choice breeds competition — which is the best way to improve schools," an opinion that would seemingly be at odds with advocating for forced attendance at state-funded schools.
This was not the first rumor Snopes has investigated about either McConnell or McCarthy. For example, we previously looked into claims that McConnell said he would not participate in 2020 election debates that included female moderators and that a photo authentically showed McCarthy watching himself lose a vote for speaker of the House.
Blad, Evie. "Senate GOP Sticks to School Choice Push in Slimmed Down Relief Proposal." Education Week, 8 Sep. 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. "H.R.3755 - Women's Health Protection Act of 2021." Congress.Gov, 6 Aug. 2021, https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3755.
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 Solution to Our Broken Education System | The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions. 29 Jul. 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-solution-to-our-broken-education-system.
"McConnell Equates His Ancestors' Slave Ownership to Obama's." AP News, 9 Jul. 2019, https://apnews.com/article/a7bab51c3e324ee5bbc55a48b683d1a7.
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"mitch Mcconnell" AND "We Have to Bring Slavery Back. Those Were the Good Old Days." - Yahoo Search Results. https://uk.news.search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrFFpoNNYJoA1kVdiZQBQx.;_ylc=X1MDMjExNDcxNzAwOARfcgMyBGZyA3lmcC10BGZyMgNzYi10b3AEZ3ByaWQDRkpaQTFNSXhTa2VMbld0a1FEUUt1QQRuX3JzbHQDMARuX3N1Z2cDMARvcmlnaW4DdWsubmV3cy5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDMARxc3RybAM4NARxdWVyeQMlMjJtaXRjaCUyMG1jY29ubmVsbCUyMiUyMEFORCUyMCUyMldlJTIwaGF2ZSUyMHRvJTIwYnJpbmclMjBzbGF2ZXJ5JTIwYmFjay4lMjBUaG9zZSUyMHdlcmUlMjB0aGUlMjBnb29kJTIwb2xkJTIwZGF5cy4lMjIEdF9zdG1wAzE3NTMzNjM3NjI-?p=%22mitch+mcconnell%22+AND+%22We+have+to+bring+slavery+back.+Those+were+the+good+old+days.%22&fr2=sb-top&fr=yfp-t. Accessed 24 Jul. 2025.
"mitch Mcconnell" AND "We Have to Bring Slavery Back. Those Were the Good Old Days." at DuckDuckGo. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22mitch+mcconnell%22+AND+%22We+have+to+bring+slavery+back.+Those+were+the+good+old+days.%22&iar=news&t=h_. Accessed 24 Jul. 2025.
"Rep. Kevin McCarthy | National Pro-Life Scorecard." SBA Pro-Life America, https://sbaprolife.org/representative/kevin-mccarthy. Accessed 24 Jul. 2025.
"Sen. Mitch McConnell | National Pro-Life Scorecard." SBA Pro-Life America, https://sbaprolife.org/senator/mitch-mcconnell. Accessed 24 Jul. 2025.
@SenMcConnell. "With the Nation, Congress Looks Back to 1619 and Remembers the Size and Scope of Slavery's Stain on Our History. ." X, 10 Sep. 2019, https://x.com/SenMcConnell/status/1171443118610059267.
@SpeakerMcCarthy. "It's Been 400 Years since the Evils of Slavery First Occurred in America. ." X, 10 Sep. 2025, https://x.com/SpeakerMcCarthy/status/1171507398944518147.
U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 2nd Session. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00065.htm. Accessed 24 Jul. 2025.
Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154, and DC 20515-6601 p:225-7000. "Roll Call 295 Roll Call 295, Bill Number: H. R. 3755, 117th Congress, 1st Session." Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, 24 Sep. 2021, https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2021295.
Yang, Maya. "Mitch McConnell Refuses to Say Whether He Supports a US National Abortion Ban." The Guardian, 28 Apr. 2024. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/28/mitch-mcconnell-national-abortion-ban.
---. "Mitch McConnell Refuses to Say Whether He Supports a US National Abortion Ban." The Guardian, 28 Apr. 2024. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/28/mitch-mcconnell-national-abortion-ban.
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