The Republican party hit a new low, formally downplaying the attack that nearly overturned democracy.
The majority of Republicans haven’t been participating with the House select committee investigating the Jan.6 Capitol riot. But they haven’t been content with simply doing nothing. Some have spent months either downplaying the violent attack, even publicly condemning the investigation. On Friday they went even further still, censuring the two lone Republicans on the committee and actually declaring that the Capitol storming was “legitimate political discourse.” As per The New York Times, the Republican National Committee, when faced with a former leader who continues to spread the voter lies that led to the attack (and is now even slamming his ex-veep), decided to go after party members who are trying to ensure such a thing never happens again. They voted to formally censure Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both die hard Republicans and both people who have refused to whitewash over Trump’s actions. (Cheney was infamously stripped of some of her power by her own party last year.) In a statement, they condemned Cheney and Kinzinger for collaborating with Democrats over what they called the “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” After the vote, certain Republicans attempted to clarify their language to make it seem like they weren’t condoning the violent assault, which left five dead and dozens of police officers injured. That didn’t go so well.
