WASHINGTON — Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell pushed back hard on Tuesday about the Republican Party’s censure of Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and its characterization of Jan. 6 as “legitimate political discourse,” saying the riot was a “violent insurgency.”
The comments by Mr. McConnell, the normally taciturn Republican from Kentucky, joined a small but powerful chorus of GOP lawmakers who took action Friday by the Republican National Committee when it officially reprimanded Ms. Cheney and Mr. Kinzinger for their participation. , have rejected. in the House of Representatives to the January 6 attack, accusing them of “persecuting ordinary citizens who engage in legitimate political discourse.”
Mr. McConnell dismissed that description, saying, ‘We’ve seen it happen. It was a violent uprising aimed at preventing the peaceful transfer of power from one government to another after legitimately approved elections. That’s what it was.”
In the days since the Republican National Committee passed the resolution at its winter meeting in Salt Lake City, a handful of Republicans have criticized the move as anything from a political distraction to sorry about the party† Mr. McConnell was one of the most blunt.
“Traditionally, national party committees believe that we support all members of our party, regardless of their position on certain issues,” he told reporters in a choreographed statement after Republicans’ weekly luncheon behind closed doors. “The issue is whether the RNC should choose members of our party who have different views on the majority. That is not the job of the RNC”
The resolution, pushed by allies of former President Donald Trump, has disrupted efforts by congressional Republicans to focus on what they see as President Biden’s and the Democratic Party’s failings in an election year. At a news conference Tuesday, House Republicans wanted to blame the president for a worsening fentanyl crisis, but virtually every question was about the party’s resolution.
“Republicans have been very clear, we condemn the violence on Jan. 6. We also condemn the violence in 2020 when violent criminals attacked federal buildings, including parts of Washington, D.C.,” said New York Representative Elise Stefanik, the chairman of the Republican Democratic Party. Conference of the House. , equating racial justice protests with the deadly attack on the Capitol. She added, “we believe the Jan 6 commission is political theater about punishing partisan opponents.”
Some Republicans feared the party’s disapproval of the only two Republicans sitting in the House’s Jan. 6 investigation, the attempts by the far-right wing of the House to try to try Mrs. Cheney and Mr. Kinzinger from the Republican Conference of the House. House to remove, could resume. That had been the original intention of the party officials who drafted the censure resolution, David Bossie and Frank Eathorne, who initially called for that action.
But House Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning with a clear point of discussion: that the party should focus on ensuring that Mrs. Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, does not win re-election to the House after the election. from Nov. (Mr. Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, has already announced his retirement.)
“People want them kicked out,” said Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who attempted to oust the two last year. But, she added, “it would be really ridiculous to kick them out of the conference but not work hard to make sure Liz Cheney is defeated.”
Latest developments
The first test. Prosecutors have taken a revealing look at their strategy for the first trial resulting from the Capitol attack, and have revealed an inventory of the extensive evidence they plan to introduce.
Some Republicans defended the resolution, noting that it reflected the party’s view of what happened on January 6.
“Whatever you think about the RNC vote, it reflects the views of most Republican voters,” said Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley. “In my state it doesn’t help a bunch of DC Republicans commenting on the RNC”