PLAYBOOK LIVE McCarthy admits he 'didn't have the greatest year' in 2015

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy admitted Wednesday that he “didn’t have the greatest year” in 2015 and that his political career could have ended as a result.

That statement, made at a POLITICO Playbook breakfast, appeared to be an allusion to his statement on Fox News last fall that the House Select Committee on Benghazi was formed as a result of political motivations.

“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?” McCarthy bragged to Sean Hannity during a late September appearance on Fox News. “But we put together a Benghazi Special Committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.”

McCarthy quickly walked back that statement, but he still took a beating from fellow Republicans upset that the majority leader had seemingly delivered Democrats a soundbite confirming their suspicions about the committee’s true motivations. The gaffe significantly damaged his chances for the speaker job, which ultimately went to Paul Ryan.

The California congressman now says that how he handled the controversy allowed him to move past it, a good example for others who suffer setbacks.

“You’re going to have a challenge in your life. If you let that challenge be the final one, that’s the story of your life. But if you take it as a learning experience and get stronger from it, it’s a simple chapter,” McCarthy said, answering a question from POLITICO’s Mike Allen about advice for interns. “This country loves comebacks, right? I didn’t have the greatest year last year. That could have ended my political career because I simply answered a question wrong on the process. In my mind I was answering it right, but I wasn’t finishing my sentences. You know what, there’s always another door. It’s how you handle it.”