Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican Leader, is slamming the Republican National Committee for censuring two House GOP legislators probing the “violent insurgency” on Jan. 6, 2021, claiming it is not the party’s role to police lawmakers’ beliefs.
At the RNC’s winter conference in Salt Lake City, the RNC conducted a voice vote to endorse censuring Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, despite former President Donald Trump downplaying the attack by his fans last year — the biggest attack on the Capitol in two centuries. The two Republicans are members of a House committee chaired by Democrats that is examining the siege intensively and has subpoenaed numerous members of the former president’s inner circle.
The Republican National Committee resolution censured Cheney and Kinzinger, accusing the House panel of directing a “persecution of ordinary Americans engaging in lawful political conversation,” a charge that provoked fury from Democrats and vehement opposition from numerous Republican senators. Policemen were savagely beaten by protesters who broke into the Capitol through windows and doors, disrupting the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump.
“It was a violent insurgency aimed at preventing the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next following a duly recognized election,” McConnell said Tuesday. He said he still trusts RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, but the question is whether the RNC should “single out” members of the party who have differing viewpoints from the majority. The RNC isn’t in charge of that.”
The clash is the latest in a series of internal squabbles inside the party over subjects that McConnell and others perceive as politically advantageous and would want to discuss in an election year – inflation, for example – vs the insurgency and Trump’s election lies.
Even after election authorities and courts across the country debunked Trump’s phony allegations of widespread voter fraud and a stolen victory, rioters broke into the Capitol and reiterated his fraudulent claims. For months, McConnell and his closest allies have stated that they want to focus on November 2022, when they have a chance to retake the Senate, rather than January 2021.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a Republican, said Monday that the Republican National Committee has stated that it wants the party to be united, “and that was not a unifying action.” Alabama Senator Richard Shelby believes the Republican Party should be a “big tent” party. McDaniel was approached by Republican Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mitt Romney of Utah to address the censure.
Romney, McDaniel’s uncle, told reporters that the message from the party “could not have been more improper.”
“Anything my party does that appears to be stupid isn’t going to benefit us,” he stated.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine stated that the rioters who “broke windows and breached the Capitol were not engaged in legitimate political discourse and to say otherwise is stupid.
Collins claimed that the GOP began the year with an advantage on topics that might decide the race, but that “every second spent re-litigating a lost election or defending those who have been convicted of criminal activity pulls us further away from our goal of success this fall.”
After an RNC subcommittee toned down a resolution that suggested the pair be expelled from the party, the censure was passed last week. The “legitimate political discourse” language in the censure resolution, according to McDaniel, did not allude to the physical attack on the Capitol, but rather to previous acts done by the House committee examining the insurgency on Jan. 6, 2021. The resolution, on the other hand, made no such distinction.
In the aftermath of the censure vote, Cheney said she had received a “tremendous amount of support.” “I think every American who saw the footage of that incident and watched it unfold realizes that it was truly terrible to suggest that what happened that day could be considered respectable political speech,” she said.
Despite voting to acquit Trump after the House voted to impeach him one week after the incident, McConnell has maintained his harsh criticism of Trump over the insurgency. “There is no doubt that President Trump is practically and morally accountable for triggering the events of that day,” McConnell said after the vote, adding that “a mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name.” These criminals carried his banners, flew his flags, and screamed their allegiance to him.”
It’s worth noting that he uses the word “insurrection” to describe the act of rebelling against established authority. Many members of his party have claimed that the incident was not an insurgency, downplaying it or attempting to present it as a peaceful demonstration.
Despite this, the GOP leader rarely mentions Jan. 6 and did not attend mourning events on the one-month anniversary of the assault. He has underlined to his colleagues the importance of focusing on the future and subjects that would help them reclaim the Senate.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, meanwhile, has largely avoided discussing the uprising, despite the fact that he was present when it occurred and that some rioters were demanding his death. However, on Friday, he responded to Trump’s repeated claims that in his ceremonial role supervising the electoral count, he could have “overturned” the result.
Pence told a meeting of the conservative Federalist Society, “President Trump is mistaken.” “I didn’t have the authority to reverse the election.”
While few Republicans explicitly defended the RNC’s decision, many claimed it was the party’s right to do so.
“The RNC has any authority to take any action,” New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the House’s No. 3 Republican, said. “The perspective that I have is that you’re ultimately held accountable to voters in your district.” “This year, we’re going to get a lot of feedback and thoughts from voters relatively fast.”
Cheney and Kinzinger’s participation on the Jan. 6 panel, according to Texas Senator Ted Cruz, is “not helpful.” Republicans in Washington, including McConnell, are “bashing other Republicans,” according to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who spearheaded challenges to the certification of Biden’s victory on Jan. 6.
“If you come to Missouri and talk to Republicans, folks who will be voting in our primary, they will most likely agree with what the RNC did,” Hawley said.
