On January 6, 2021, hours after the attack on the Capitol, McCarthy voted against certifying Biden's win in two states. Cook Political Report House editor Dave Wasserman later reported that McCarthy had told him on several occasions prior to this vote that he knew Biden had won. He later denied that this was a vote to overturn the election, because Biden would still have won without those two states. He finally recognized Biden as the president-elect on January 8, more than two months after the election.