In the days following January 6, 2021 many Republicans recognized and publicly acknowledged the damage that was done by the rioters who stormed the Capitol at the behest of Donald Trump. Since then, many have cowered to pressure from Trump and his allies and changed their stances. Below are comparisons of what they said immediately following January 6th and what they are saying now.
Below are the comparisons of what Senate Republicans have said about the attack on the Capitol on January 6th.
Kari Lake
The purge of the President and many others on Twitter, FB and other social media accounts is disturbing. First Amendment is under attack. [Tweet, Jan. 8, 2021]
Lake said she would have no say in that as a candidate for governor, then added, “What I don’t like is that people are being held in prison without being charged. That’s un-American.”
Lake posted a longer version of the interview on Rumble. “We don’t take kindly on Americans being locked up for months on end without being charged. So charge them, or get off the pot,” she added. [Politifact, Mar. 17, 2022]
Outstanding. Free our political prisoners! [Campaign Twitter Tweet Reply, Mar. 25, 2023]
.@Mike_Pence always had the ability to do the right thing and send the electors back to the states on January 6th.
What he lacked was the courage. + @Rach_IC Tweet [Campaign Twitter Quote Tweet, June 21, 2023]
Last week, the Fake News needed to run cover for Ray Epps, so January 6th was a protest.
Now Jack Smith realized his documents case was a bust, so it’s an “insurrection” again.
The Biden regime doesn’t give a damn about the truth or the rule of law
They just need a vague pretense to get a swampy jury to throw @realDonaldTrump in jail. [Tweet, July 18, 2023]
Off topic. But more people should follow @shipwreckedcrew.
Wonderful legal takes and doing great work on behalf of the January 6th political prisoners. [Campaign Twitter Tweet Reply, July 28, 2023]
Questioning an election is not a crime.
Encouraging your constituents to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard ” is not an incitement of an insurrection.
@realDonaldTrump did NOTHING wrong. + Video [Campaign Twitter Tweet, Aug. 1, 2023]
Yesterday, “one of the nation’s leading conspiracy theorists” and potential Senate candidate Kari Lake appeared on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, pushing new conspiracy theories about the January 6th insurrection, including calling it a “fedsurrection.”
Here’s what Lake had to say about January 6th insurrection:
“All that January 6 was, was a staged riot to cover up the fact that they certified a fraudulent election.”
“And frankly, if [Pence’s] got a problem with what happened on January 6th, he should …talk to the folks in the FBI who planted a bunch of you know, rabble rousers in the crowd to cause trouble.”
“And you know, what he really should do is he should sit down and take a look at the roughly 40,000 hours of video of surveillance footage. And I think he can sort it out real quick, who the trouble was, who the good guys were, and who those handful of bad guys were that were planted in that fedsurrection.” [Arizona Democratic Party, Aug. 3, 2023]
F – Federal
B – Bureau of
I – Insurrection [Tweet, Aug. 4, 2023]
Absolutely horrifying.
Mike Pence said he would not pardon these political prisoners.
And DeSantis says J6 is a “backwards looking issue.”
America cant ignore injustices anymore—the 2020 election, J6, covid…
Corruption doesn’t go away if you ignore it. + @gatewaypundit Tweet [Quote Tweet, Aug. 17, 2023]
.@Mike_Pence sold his country out on January 6, 2021.
He had the constitutional right & moral obligation to send the electors back to the states for further consideration.
I’m tired of watching people make excuses for one of the greatest acts of cowardice in American history. [Tweet, Aug. 23, 2023]
Senate candidate Kari Lake in recent weeks has issued a flurry of congratulations and sympathy towards participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, in which a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump violently entered the Capitol grounds in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the result of the 2020 presidential election.
Like some other Republicans, Lake has suggested that prosecution of Jan. 6 participants is politically motivated, despite a wealth of evidence and court judgments that many participants broke the law that day.
She struck a similar tone while running for governor in 2022, telling one participant he did nothing wrong. That man was sentenced to three years of probation after he encouraged others to “go, go, go” into the Capitol building and take a police officer’s shield.
“You showed up to show your support for a president,” Lake said at the time, according to a video of the event posted on YouTube.
Lake has continued to defend Jan. 6 participants while running for Senate, despite receiving advice from national Republicans to stop focusing on “grievances from the past.” Her campaign declined to comment.
Appearing last week on Fox News, Lake cast those prosecuted for their involvement the Jan. 6 riot as “political prisoners” and defended by name one participant who videos posted to social media captured repeatedly swinging a baseball bat at police officers, thrusting a riot shield in their direction, and boasting online about his involvement in the attack, according to court papers.
“It’s terrible what happened,” Lake said, when her interviewer suggested that innocent people were being prosecuted. “This, to me, is one of the great injustices in American history.”
Several days later, Lake posted in support of Owen Shroyer, another Jan. 6 participant after he was released from prison. Shroyer, the host of a show on the website owned by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, had served a two-month prison sentence after he spread misinformation about the 2020 election on his platform leading up to Jan. 6 and agitated the crowd on the steps of the Capitol complex.
“Glad you are back, healthy and energized,” Lake commented on Shroyer’s social media post announcing he had been released.
Last week, a social media account associated with the campaign reposted a picture of Lake posing with Jenna Ryan, a participant in the Jan. 6 riot who also served a two-month prison sentence.
The post was noticed by Jacob Chansley, the so-called ‘QAnon shaman’ who has indicated his interest in running to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. Chansley commented to inquire whether the photo was taken in Arizona or Texas, where Ryan lives.
“Kari was here. I thought of you while she was speaking,” Ryan responded.
“I esp loved what she says about J6. ‘I think they should all be pardoned and more.’” [Arizona Republic, Dec. 17, 2023]
Kevin McCarthy
Thank you to Capitol Police for protecting the People’s House.
Protesters have a Constitutionally-protected right to be heard, but I urge them to remain peaceful. [Tweet, Jan. 6, 2021]
“What is unfolding is unacceptable and un-American. It has got to stop.” [Tweet, Jan. 6, 2021]
“Our democracy cannot be disrupted by criminal behavior. We will not falter. We will not bend. We will not shrink from our duty.
Mobs don’t rule America—laws do.” + Video [Tweet, Jan. 6, 2021]
“The violent mob responsible for this attack on the U.S. Capitol deserves the full consequences of their actions under the law.” + @FBI Tweet [Quote Tweet, Jan. 7, 2021]
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Thursday he does not believe former President Donald Trump incited the riot at the Capitol earlier this month, pivoting away from comments he made last week that the president bore some responsibility for the assault.
“I don’t believe he provoked it if you listen to what he said at the rally,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters.
McCarthy previously told House Republicans that Trump bore and also accepted some responsibility for the attacks, according to four Republican sources who were on a private Jan. 11 GOP caucus call. Two days later, McCarthy said on the House floor that “the president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. These facts require immediate action by President Trump.”
The fresh comments from McCarthy, a staunch Trump ally, diverged from remarks by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said Tuesday that Trump “provoked” the Jan. 6 riot.
“The mob was fed lies,” McConnell said on the Senate floor on the last full day of Trump’s presidency. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.”
After Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives last week over the riots, McConnell has signaled his openness to convicting Trump in the upcoming Senate trial. The minority leader’s allies have also blamed Trump in the aftermath of the Georgia Senate races earlier this month, when Democrats won the two seats they needed to claim the Senate majority.
McCarthy said Thursday that he hopes Trump, who received a record number of votes for a GOP presidential candidate in 2020, continues to galvanize the supporters that he amassed.
“Every former president still has a role within their party,” McCarthy said. “This president brought a lot of great success. He brought people to the party who hadn’t been involved before and he should continue to engage in that way.” [Politico, Jan. 21, 2021]
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) attracted attention last week when he said in a floor speech that former President Donald Trump “bears responsibility” for the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
But since then, he has seemed to walk back his criticism.
On Thursday, he told reporters that he didn’t actually believe Trump had “provoked” the mob of his supporters.
In an interview airing Sunday on Gray Television’s “Full Court Press With Greta Van Susteren,” McCarthy insisted he wasn’t changing his tune.
“No, I have not changed in that,” he said. (Transcript below)
He stood by his assertion that Trump does bear some responsibility for what happened. But, he added, so does every other person around the country.
“I also think everybody across this country has some responsibility,” he said.
McCarthy then started pointing to Democrats who opposed Trump, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), people who are rude on social media and law enforcement authorities who didn’t prepare for the attack as some of the people who were somehow responsible.
“I think this is what we have to get to the bottom of, and when you start talking about who has responsibilities, I think there’s going to be a lot more questions, a lot more answers we have to have in the coming future,” he added.
Trump’s supporters were in town Jan. 6 for a “Stop the Steal” rally, full of people who believed that Joe Biden didn’t actually win the presidential election. Trump encouraged them to march to the Capitol to stop Congress ― and his own vice president ― from certifying the official Electoral College results on behalf of Biden.
McCarthy said Trump told his supporters to protest “peacefully.”
Indeed, he did say, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
But Trump also encouraged them to fight.
“We’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness,” he said. “You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”
He also turned Mike Pence, his vice president, into an enemy, saying he had better do the “right thing.” Many Trump supporters who marched to the Capitol were furious at Pence, even talking about lynching him.
McCarthy’s insistence that Trump didn’t provoke the mob is in direct contradiction to what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said.
“The mob was fed lies,” McConnell said Wednesday. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”
Relevant transcript from McCarthy’s interview with Van Susteren:
VAN SUSTEREN: It seemed like in the beginning that you thought that he had responsibility in what happened at the Capitol on January 6th, and then later you changed. Can you clarify that for me?
McCARTHY: No, I have not changed in that. I notice where people write about that. No, what I said, I thought the president had some responsibility when it came to the response. If you listen to what the president said at the rally, he said, “demonstrate peacefully.” And then I got a question later about whether did he incite them. I also think everybody across this country has some responsibility. Think about four years ago after President Trump was sworn in. What happened in the very next day? The title was resist with people walking in the streets, Maxine Waters saying to confront people, confront them in the restaurants. We had people poor, Steve [Scalise] got shot. What do we write on our social media? What do we say to one another? How do we disagree and still not be agreeable even when it comes to opinion?
So I think there’s from a whole nation, we should take this moment in time to find how we can correct ourselves. But President Trump said “peacefully.” What I said on the floor was that President Trump could have responded faster when the riots first started. I thought his video, the second video, was a very good video. I wish that was the first one.
Remember what we find out now? And this is where I have a real problem. The FBI knew that this was planned. The FBI knew so many days in advance, told the Capitol Police. And I am the Republican leader, no one told us. What did the Sergeant-of-arms know? Why didn’t he allow the national guard in there? These are the people that have a great deal of responsibility for protecting the Capitol and letting the Capitol get broken into.
If they knew ahead of time, the FBI, did they tell the Speaker, or did they tell the Sergeant-of-Arms and they didn’t tell the Republicans? Did they deny the National Guard to come forward because they didn’t like the look of that? Again, why didn’t they come to us and ask us? When we had a meeting the day before they said they were prepared for all of it. I think this is what we have to get to the bottom of, and when you start talking about who has responsibilities, I think there’s going to be a lot more questions, a lot more answers we have to have in the coming future.
UPDATE, 1/24 ― McCarthy tried to clarify his remarks on Twitter, insisting he wasn’t necessarily saying everyone in the country was responsible for Trump’s supporters attacking the Capitol, but rather that “it is incumbent upon every person in America to help lower the temperature of our political discourse.” [HuffPost, Jan. 23, 2021]
“House Republicans and the Trump administration achieved historic results for all Americans. We were able to do this because we listened to and understood the concerns of our fellow citizens that had long been ignored. As a result, House Republicans defied the experts and the media by expanding our growing coalition across the country.
“Today, President Trump committed to helping elect Republicans in the House and Senate in 2022. A Republican majority will listen to our fellow Americans and solve the challenges facing our nation. Democrats, on the other hand, have only put forward an agenda that divides us — such as impeaching a President who is now a private citizen and destroying blue-collar energy jobs. For the sake of our country, the radical Democrat agenda must be stopped.
“A united conservative movement will strengthen the bonds of our citizens and uphold the freedoms our country was founded on.” [23 ABC Bakersfield, Jan. 28, 2021]
What you won’t hear from Pelosi’s sham committee:
Why was the Capitol left so vulnerable that day?
Why wasn’t the National Guard here?
Why didn’t we have a better security posture?
What changes are needed to make sure it never happens again? https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1nAJELrwpkOGL [Tweet, Jul. 27, 2021]
Pelosi’s Select Committee has been focused on political theater and posturing.
This report answers what the American people have asked since day one: why the Capitol was so unprepared—and it outlines a plan for a more secure Capitol in the 118th Congress. + @RepJimBanks Tweet [Quote Tweet, Dec. 21, 2022]
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Sunday that all footage gathered by the former House January 6th Committee regarding the protests at the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021, will be released to every individual news outlet.
During an interview on “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo,” McCarthy said the American people should be allowed to see all surveillance footage from the Capitol Building that day and form their own opinions, rather than see only what the Democratic-controlled committee previously released.
His comments came amid some backlash after McCarthy allowed Fox News’ Tucker Carlson the opportunity to see tens of thousands of hours of never-before-seen video, some of which appeared to show moments of armed security peacefully escorting protesters throughout the Capitol building.
“I didn’t give [Carlson] the tapes, I allowed him to come see them, just like an exclusive with anybody else. My goal here is transparency,” McCarthy told host Bartiromo. “We will slowly roll out to every individual news agency [so] they could come see the tapes as well.”
In his remarks, McCarthy compared the protests at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to the violent racial protests and others that escalated into attacks on structures and police in the preceding summer.
“Why did I watch cities burn … and nobody arrested there? I think we should have equal justice across this country, and we should have transparency,” the House speaker said. “I think transparency is best and allow the American public to see it all. And we need to have equal justice across this nation.” [Fox News, Mar. 13, 2023]
Laura Ingraham
Security beach at Capitol is disgraceful. The president needs to tell everyone to leave the building. Now. [Tweet, Jan. 6, 2021]
Anyone who thinks this is going to grow the MAGA movement is delusional. It hurts the movement, the Trump legacy, and, of course, the country. [Tweet, Jan. 6, 2021]
The president should order US troops to secure the Capitol immediately. [Tweet, Jan. 6, 2021]
Insurrection Act may need to be invoked unless the Capitol clears soon. [Tweet, Jan. 6, 2021]
These vandals look like they could be straight out of Portland or Seattle. + @stillgray Tweet [Quote Tweet, Jan. 6, 2021]
When there is any big crowd there will invariably be bad actors mixed in. But blame will be laid at feet of White House if Capitol not cleared quickly. [Tweet, Jan. 6, 2021]
Fox News’ Laura Ingraham mocked the testimony of the Capitol Police officers who testified before the January 6 select committee on Tuesday.
Ingraham said Democrats are holding these hearings on the riots at the Capitol on January 6th to “drag this all out” leading into the midterms, saying, “The theatrics were intended to produce an emotional reaction, logic and facts be damned.”
She gave away mock awards, beginning with “best use of tears and dramatic pauses in a leading role” for both Adam Kinzinger and Adam Schiff for getting emotional during the hearing.
Ingraham then awarded “best use of an exaggeration in a supporting role” to Sgt. Aquilino Gonell for his testimony describing how officers were attacked on January 6th.
Her award for “blatant use of partisan politics when facts fail” went to Officer Harry Dunn because he talked about how he engaged with the rioters by saying he voted for Joe Biden.
…
Ingraham finally gave “best performance in an action role” to Officer Michael Fanone for his impassioned testimony calling out Republicans downplaying the riot. [Mediaite, July 27, 2021]
LAURA INGRAHAM (HOST): Pelosi’s January 6 committee held its first hearing today and because of her actions leading up to today, the whole thing turned into, in the eyes of many, nothing more than performance art. Now as this show has reiterated time and again, all criminal activity at the Capitol that day should be prosecuted and punished. There was certainly a lot of violence that day but it was not a terrorist attack. It wasn’t 9/11. It wasn’t the worst thing that ever happened to America. It wasn’t an insurrection.
…
God save us from these third-rate theatrics. Now, the award for best use of an exaggeration in a supporting role, the winner’s Aquilino Gonell who thinks the pen is literally mightier than the sword. [Media Matters, July 27, 2021]
Now, this is all public record kids, obtainable through a quick Google search. You heard of that? But, of course, it isn’t what they wanted. It never will be. Both publicly and privately, I said what I believe, that the breach of the Capitol on January 6 was a terrible thing. Crimes were committed. Some people were unfairly hounded and persecuted and prosecuted. But it was not an insurrection.
To say anything different is beyond dishonest, and it ignores the facts of that day. And as a practical matter, there’s this inconvenient truth. Democrats actually listened to Liz Cheney and the Lincoln Project and have gone all in on this January 6 narrative for the entire year of Biden’s presidency.
Lots of good that’s done them. The more they talk about January 6, the stronger Trump and the GOP are becoming in the polls. So why does the party want to become an echo chamber of MSNBC? What happened to bringing the country together? What happened to shutting down COVID? And by the way, has anyone seen MSNBC’s ratings? They’re all so out of touch.
This afternoon, that network literally ran a segment about how the U.S. media is tougher on Biden than it is on the GOP. The entire January 6 campaign has become one of revenge and defamation of false characterizations and false equivalencies. Their entire focus was portraying all Republicans as January 6 rioters. That’s what the Democrats wanted.
All Republicans, they say, are white supremacist. That’s essentially what they want to say. They want Trump barred from ever-serving in public office again. People like Liz Cheney will soon lose her Wyoming primary. Adam Kinzinger quit before the voters could oust him. But they’ll both end up probably as MSNBC commentators. They’ll both become Democrat lackeys like Nicole Wallace, Bill Kristol, the whole crowd. Largely irrelevant, with no real constituency, but pretty handsomely paid.
So the real big lie is the expansive narrative of January 6 that these clowns have made the center of their political existence. So it’s time to face facts, shut down the false narrative, and treat Cheney and her clack the way the American people treat them, by tuning them out. [Fox News, Dec. 15, 2021]
Why the persistent video gaps and transparency issues regarding January 6th? Watch as one citizen journalist asks the questions Pelosi and the Capitol Police refuse to answer. + Link [Tweet, Feb. 9, 2022]
LAURA INGRAHAM (HOST): Now, Democrats and liberals, they’ve been flopping in prime-time television for years. It’s always the same, right? It’s misleading information, vicious innuendo, attempts to connect the dots that never quite pay off. The drumbeat, constant drumbeat, of demonization and distraction. It’s neither entertaining or edifying. It’s just bad programming. Now, tonight began with Chair Benny Thompson captivating a small audience at the January 6th hearing on Capitol Hill, with what ended up being a 12 minute snooze-fest that was very heavy on rhetoric. [Media Matters, June 9, 2022]
LAURA INGRAHAM: Democrats and liberals, they’ve been flopping in primetime television for years. It’s always the same, right? It’s misleading information, vicious innuendo, attempts to connect the dots that never quite pay off. That drumbeat, constant drumbeat of demonization and distraction. It’s neither entertaining nor edifying. It’s just bad programing. Now tonight began with Chair Bennie Thompson captivating a small audience at the Jan. 6 hearing on Capitol Hill, with what ended up being a 12-minute snooze fest that was very heavy on rhetoric.
…
In the end, this was nearly two hours of an unsuccessful, laborious attempt to connect the dots back to Trump, so Trump to a coup that never happened. Now we know why the press has been publicly fretting after watching this, worried that Americans wouldn’t tune in to this Jan. 6 extravaganza.
Democrats always flop in primetime, OK? It’s just a given. Remember, this is not Americans not caring about democracy. It’s that Americans don’t believe that democracy was truly, really at risk on Jan. 6. There was no possibility that anything that happened at that riot, which we spoke against vociferously that night and I did in tweets that day, that right on Capitol Hill, would have undermined the results of the election.
There wasn’t a single serious person in D.C. who believed that Biden wasn’t going to be sworn in as president on Jan. 20 after that insurrection that wasn’t. Everyone knows what a coup is: guns, standoffs, maybe hostages taken, hostile forces grabbing the reins of power.
It goes on for a little bit more than two hours, doesn’t it? Well, none of that happened here. Violence? Yes. Criminality? Yes, you bet. But a coup, an insurrection? That’s about as believable as Biden’s new line that this economy “is the strongest ever since World War II.” [Fox News, Jun. 10, 2022]
DOJ shrouds status of Jan 6 defendants in secrecy. + Video [Tweet, June 17, 2022]
I think this “surprise” Jan 6 hearing is just another effort to distract the country from the fact that Democrats are losing on all fronts. [Tweet, June 28, 2022]
LAURA INGRAHAM (HOST): Now, the first attempt at distraction or shiny object, a former aide to Mark Meadows, Cassidy Hutchinson was slotted into what was billed as a special super-duper special session of the January 6 Committee today. And I spoke with some former White House staffers, three or four of them in the afternoon, and they knew her well. And not one person had anything good to say about her performance today because they watched, especially the second hand claim supposedly from Tony Ornato, another Trump aid, that was supposedly one of their big blockbusters –that somehow Trump was desperate to get to the Capitol by any means necessary.
…
Okay. This is just bad acting. [Media Matters, June 28, 2022]
Now that the economy is in more trouble, it’s time for more January 6 theater. As predictable as the sunrise. + Link [Tweet, Sept. 14, 2022]
LAURA INGRAHAM (HOST): Democrats believe that old ladies walking through the halls of Congress taking selfies are a bigger threat than murderers and repeat violent offenders. Americans deserve the straight facts, not hidden agendas, on all of the challenges we face: crime, the economy, our schools, China, our mental health crisis. If we are going to make any progress on any of these issues, we need leaders who are not afraid to tell the truth, no matter who it offends. [Media Matters, Mar. 29, 2023]
At least 40 undercover informants, according to documents, were purportedly tasked with surveillance during the January 6 protests at the Capitol. + Video [Tweet, April 7, 2023]
Trump said nothing and did nothing to trigger any criminal charge on January 6. His crime was believing and saying that the election was rigged. + Video [Tweet, Aug. 2, 2023]
FBI lost count of how many paid informants were at Capitol on Jan. 6, and later performed audit to figure out exact number: ex-official https://nypost.com/2023/09/19/fbi-lost-count-of-number-of-informants-at-capitol-on-jan-6-ex-official/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nypost_sitebuttons via @nypost [Tweet, Sept. 20, 2023]
Ronna Romney McDaniel
What these violent protesters are doing is the opposite of patriotism.
It is shameful and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.
Anyone who thinks they are helping the country by participating in this is wrong, and you should listen to the brave men and women in law enforcement and leave the Capitol. [Tweet Thread, Jan. 6, 2021]
“Violence has no place in our politics. Period. I wholly condemned last week’s senseless acts of violence, and I strongly reiterate the calls to remain peaceful in the weeks ahead.
Those who partook in the assault on our nation’s Capitol and those who continue to threaten violence should be found, held accountable, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Let me be clear: Anyone who has malicious intent is not welcome in Washington, D.C. or in any other state capitol.
The peaceful transition of power is one of our nation’s founding principles and is necessary for our country to move forward. Now is the time to come together as one nation, united in the peaceful pursuit of our common democratic purpose.” [Statement, Jan. 13, 2021]
…WHEREAS, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes, therefore, be it… [RNC Censure Resolution, Feb. 3, 2022]
RNC chairperson Ronna McDaniel in a statement to Axios following the vote suggested the “legitimate political discourse” referred to in the resolution “had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol,” likely a reference to the rallies that preceded the riot.
“Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line,” she said of them joining the committee. “That’s why Republican National Committee members and myself overwhelmingly support this resolution.” [Axios, Feb. 4, 2022]
…Cheney and Kinzinger chose to join Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol. … [Tweet Thread, Feb. 4, 2022]
“If corporate news media wants to know why Americans don’t trust it anymore, they should look no further than the shameful, outrageous, and patently false coverage of the resolution adopted by the RNC to censure Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
Let me be abundantly clear: as Chairman of the RNC, I have repeatedly condemned the violence that occurred at the Capitol on January 6th and do so again today. On January 6, 2021, the members of the RNC released a statement that read, ‘These violent scenes we have witnessed do not represent acts of patriotism, but an attack on our country and its founding principles.’ I tweeted that the violence was “shameful” and condemned it in the strongest possible terms.
The events of that day are deeply personal to me and our team as the FBI found a bomb outside of RNC headquarters that afternoon, and I will never forget what it felt like to know that my staff was in immediate danger. Violence has no place in our political discourse, period, and those who engaged in violence on January 6th and committed crimes should be held accountable with due process by the appropriate law enforcement authorities and prosecutors.
But the awful events of that day do not justify Cheney or Kinzinger enabling a partisan committee whose real purpose seems to be helping Democrats’ electoral prospects at the cost of potentially ruining innocent people’s lives. From the outset, the committee has lacked the legitimacy of past independent, bipartisan efforts investigating events of national importance. For starters, Republican leadership was not allowed to freely appoint a single Republican to the committee. Instead, Cheney and Kinzinger were hand-picked by Nancy Pelosi.
The January 6 Committee predictably has now vastly exceeded its original purpose and morphed into something else entirely, investigating Republicans who had nothing to do with January 6 for the apparent offense of being Republican. Under the Committee’s approach, almost anything related to the 2020 election is within the scope of its jurisdiction, to include harassing citizens who were not even in Washington, DC that day.
Nancy Pelosi’s committee – which the New York Times says ‘is employing techniques more common in criminal cases than in congressional inquiries’ – has no authority to pursue criminal charges, is not respecting the rights of private citizens and has disregarded due process and checks and balances. Last month, reports showed that 90 percent of the committee’s subpoenas have been delivered to people who weren’t even at the Capitol on January 6th. That is political posturing, not pursuing justice. Even an individual on trial has the right to face a jury of his peers, but those being called in front of the committee are faced with a hostile kangaroo court that reached a conclusion long before even asking a question.
This includes individuals like one of the RNC’s members who was subpoenaed because, weeks before January 6th, she served as an alternate elector pending the outcome of ongoing lawsuits – an action with clear legal precedent which Democrats themselves have done in the past. Now she could face costly legal bills even though she was nowhere near the Capitol on January 6th and had nothing to do with the violence that occurred.
Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are cheapening the events of January 6th by participating in Nancy Pelosi’s partisan committee. The Senate has already completed one investigation into January 6th, and there are multiple ongoing active law enforcement investigations into what happened that day. These are the correct avenues for investigation.
I firmly believe we are the big tent party, and that disagreement amongst Republicans is welcome and can make us stronger. But what Cheney and Kinzinger are engaged in goes much further than any policy disagreement. These two have permitted their party affiliation to be weaponized to allow the Democrats gross overreach and abuse of power. In short, they never should have agreed to be part of a committee where Republicans were denied representation.
As I have repeatedly stated, violence is not legitimate political discourse – whether in the U.S. Capitol or in Democrat-run cities across the country – and neither is abusing Congress’ investigatory powers for political gain. Media outlets pretending that the RNC believes otherwise are doing so in bad faith, and their lies should be called out for the cheap political stunts they are. [Op-Ed published on Townhall.com, Feb. 8, 2022]
Sean Hannity
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): A lot going on obviously. If you haven’t been following the news today we have a lot to bring you up to speed on including the massive hundreds and hundreds of thousands of protesters that have descended on Washington, D.C. and now made their march to the U.S. Capitol. And literally, I was a little surprised at the fact that the Capitol was not more securely protected but apparently not. And many of the protesters apparently have made their way inside. I see one or two videos of some vandalism. Every good, decent honorable American would condemn all violence and urge any protesters that want to go down that road.
You know, I see a lot of older people, moms and dads and families and stuff, but you always– there’s always going to be the agitators in some of these groups and you don’t want them to take control and all the necessary police force should and will be used. Apparently a stand off outside of the House door chambers. Not sure why, they knew this was coming. They knew there was going to be a march. They knew they were heading to the Capitol. I’m not surprised– I am surprised that they didn’t have more of a police presence there when they got there.
. . .
I want to explain in detail if I can what today is about and why people are feeling the way they’re feeling, if to the extent that I think I can. And this is not something that has happened here in a vacuum. And I would argue, and I have been arguing, that this is something that has been building and building for a long period of time. Now for the very specifics you’ve got Sen. Ted Cruz in the Senate and we will check in with some congressmen later. And we have people on the ground including John Solomon and Rose Tennent will be joining us today. So we have on this program we’ve been asking questions. Why is there a complete lack of curiosity when you have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of eye witnesses that signed affidavits under the penalty of perjury why it is nobody except for very few of us in the media that would even allow them to tell their story about what they saw in terms of November 3 and the counting that extended even beyond that date. [Media Matters, Jan. 6, 2021]
Hannity condemns Capitol violence, defends peaceful rallygoers https://hann.it/35kirI9 [Tweet, Jan. 7, 2021]
Sean Hannity weighed-in Wednesday night on the thousands of protesters that stormed the US Capitol earlier in the day; saying true supporters of President Trump would never condone acts of violence.
“The National Guard was deployed to protect the Capitol building. The FBI, ATF, other agencies are also on the scene… This morning we witnessed a massive peaceful protest in support of President Trump,” said Hannity.
“Following a planned march, chaos ensued. The Capitol building was breached. Some rushed inside. Some police were hurt. Within minutes the Capitol was completely breached,” he added. “Some made their way to the Senate Floor… Let me be crystal clear: Those who truly support President Trump, we do not support those that commit acts of violence.” [Hannity.com, Jan. 7, 2021]
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Well, Democrats seem to love whistleblowers. Politico chronicled one particular whistleblower, Colonel Earl Matthews. He put out a 36-page memo, and he sent it to the January 6th select committee. It includes details, recollections of the, you know, riot of that day, and how the deputy chief of staff for operations, quote, “Was — were absolute and unmitigated liars in their characterization of — of what happened that day, and every leader in the D.C. Guard wanted to respond and knew they could respond and stop what was happening at the Capitol.”
And they were told repeatedly to stand down. And in addition to Matthews’ memo, Politico obtained a document produced by a DC Guard official dated January 7th that lays out the timeline of January 6th, and at 2:37 P.M. points out that they recommended the D.C. Guard to be on standby, not deploying. Now that to me, would be under the — if we wanted to make sure this never happens again, which I said on January 6th we can’t have this happen again, you would want to get to the bottom of that. Are they investigating that part? Because I don’t see it. Jim Jordan would. Jim Banks would.
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HANNITY: Well, I think it has to start with Nancy Pelosi. Wouldn’t wouldn’t they subpoena her home, her text messages, her emails, her phone calls leading up to the 6th and her are not taking the recommendations of you, the president and the Capitol Police chief? [Media Matters, Dec. 15, 2021]
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Media mob all week, this week, will cover January 6th. This is the week, the one year anniversary of what happened on January 6th. We said it live that day on this program, we can’t have any kind of rioting and we’ve got to protect our elected officials. We’ve been very consistent, just like we were consistent over the summer of July of 2020, when, over the summer of 2020, when we had, what? 574 riots. We had billions of dollars of property damage, arson, and looting. We had dozens of Americans killed, murdered. We had thousands of cops hurt, many of them badly.
And yet, there’s no committee led by Liz Cheney and company and Nancy Pelosi. The one thing they won’t ask in this committee — and this is why I keep saying it’s a phony committee, it’s a rigged investigation with a predetermined outcome — is because this is Liz Cheney’s alliance — unholy alliance with Nancy Pelosi and company, so that they can purge the Republican Party of Donald Trump and make sure Donald Trump never runs for president again.
I don’t think it’s going to work. Because if they really wanted to get to the root cause, you’ve got to ask some really tough questions. Donald Trump asked for the National Guard to be called up that day, knowing hundreds of thousands of people were going to march on the Capitol. He did that days before January 6th. The same with Mark Meadows, the same with the Capitol police chief. He asked six separate times for the National Guard. The person that would be in charge of that is the Sergeant of Arms, the Sergeant of Arms reports to Nancy Pelosi. Nancy Pelosi needs to be investigated and put under oath. Are they going to do that? No, that’s not going to happen. It’s pretty unbelievable. Just like they’re not going to investigate the 574 riots over the summer. [Media Matters, Jan. 4, 2022]
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Let me ask you this. David Axelrod, I don’t agree with him politically, but he’s a pretty smart guy, he warned the Democrats about overpromising and under delivering. I found this opening tonight so underwhelming. They built this up to be, this is going to be the definitive moment where we prove that Donald Trump is responsible for the insurrection that took place. They didn’t come close to even capturing my interest, maybe for 3 minutes before I said, this is a waste of time. [Media Matters, June 9, 2022]
Fox News’ Sean Hannity reacted to the series of horrific revelations from the January 6 Committee’s first ever televised hearing by running with the claim that “the one person that looks good is Donald Trump.”
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“All of the attempts to get people to call up the guard, basically begging them to take the guard,” said the host.” How does this play out as this narrative now takes over? I think the entire story – because this is about a security failure of incredible magnitude – and they don’t even seem to want to talk about it. The one person who looks good is Donald Trump. Donald Trump authorized it.” [Mediaite, June 9, 2022]
SEAN HANNITY: While you, the American people, you know – the people that actually make this a great country are facing, you know, a deluge of serious problems like record inflation, record-high gas prices, record numbers of illegal immigrants, record homicides in so many of our towns and cities.
Well, the swamp creatures on Capitol Hill, they were busy with yet another anti-Trump kangaroo court and show trial, where the outcome, as we’ve been telling you, has been and remains predetermined, has been that way since day one. Instead of honest hearings on how to protect our institutions, our elected officials, to protect the people’s house, the Capitol, instead of ever allowing riots like those that occurred in the summer of 2020 from ever, ever happening again, we see nothing but blind, never-ending rage. What is seemingly an obsessive-compulsive cult-like rage against Donald Trump never ends.
Now, clearly, Trump haters, for them, January six is just another excuse to smear Donald Trump and anyone who supports them. This is not about safety and security and securing the Capitol or getting to the truth.
This has never been about having a fair and serious hearing and proceeding so we can come up with solutions. Today we heard more rumors, a ton of hearsay and wow, a lot of impeached testimony that we’ll get to in a second. And this is why hearsay is never admissible in a real court of law. Including this wild claim from a former low-level White House staffer. [Fox News, June 28, 2022]
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): We’re going to get an update. All of the media, judging by the lack of coverage, because they’re all covering the January 6th hearings today. So today, this was a special hearing, we were told, because new evidence has emerged. We didn’t learn one new thing today. Hardly a thing from this committee. [Media Matters, June 28, 2022]
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Today the so-called witness also claimed President Trump wanted to get rid of the metal detectors at the January 6 rally and allow armed individuals to attend. Today, President Trump flat out denied this claim and pointed out a simple fact. Zero guns were ever discharged by those that breached the Capitol or in D.C. that day. [Media Matters, June 28, 2022]
Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday night blasted January 6 Committee star witness Cassidy Hutchinson‘s testimony as “bizarre” and the media’s coverage of it as “hyperventilating.”
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After playing part of Hutchinson’s remarks, Hannity said, “What you heard there is an incredibly bizarre hearsay allegation from a person who, according to our sources, was actually prepared, she wanted to work for Donald Trump outside the White House when he wasn’t president, at Mar a Lago, and according to people that I talked to tonight, until others advised the former president not to hire her.”
Hannity, citing The Federalist, continued.
“In other words, according to The Federalist and people I spoke to after January the sixth, she wanted to work for Donald Trump, that bad person she’s now testifying against,” he said.
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“A perfect example of why hearsay is not allowed in a real court of law,” said Hannity in his segment. “Today, the so-called witness also claimed President Trump wanted to get rid of the metal detectors at the January 6 rally and allow armed individuals to attend. Today, President Trump flat-out denied this claim and pointed out a simple fact: zero guns were ever discharged by those that breached the Capitol or in D.C. that day.”
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“According to so many so-called journalists in the media mob, it was hyperventilating again,” said Hannity, using a mock-breathless tone. “Oh, we got them again. This time. Trump-Russia collusion. Oh, we got him. Let’s impeach him.”
“Anyway, they said this was a game-changer,” he said. “Wrong again.”
The montage of media reactions then played, ending on CNN’s Jamie Gangel arguing that “America and democracy is in debt to this young woman.”
“Oh, really? Just take her word for it. She wasn’t even there. Hearsay witness,” said Hannity to conclude. “Sound familiar? Oh, that was the other impeachment trial.” [Mediaite, June 29, 2022]
Vivek Ramaswamy
A sad day. Xinping and Putin are rejoicing. [Tweet, Jan. 6, 2021]
Every American, every one of us, shares some responsibility for what happened yesterday. Issuing indignant condemnations is easy. Looking in the mirror is hard. [Tweet, Jan. 7, 2021]
Here’s the one thing that Jan 6 and 9/11 share in common:
Both were used as pretexts to violate constitutional liberties of Americans in ways that would have otherwise never been tolerated. [Tweet, Sept. 15, 2021]
Get to the bottom of the origin of Covid-19.
Get to the bottom of what exactly happened on January 6th.
Just make sure the NIH and the FBI aren’t involved in either inquiry.
And let’s see what crawls out when those logs turn over. [Tweet, Jan. 11, 2022]
I was one of the odd guys who said that Guantanamo prisoners – even alleged terrorists – deserved due process before conviction & punishment. Yet the lawyers who agreed with me back then are now notably *silent* about due process for Jan 6 prisoners. This shouldn’t be politicized + @JennaEllisEsq Tweet [Quote Tweet, Mar. 8, 2023]
I will pardon *all* Americans who were targets of politicized federal prosecutions & those who were denied due process. This includes all peaceful Jan 6 protesters. It’s important that every candidate is clear about where we stand on the hard issues, not just the standard GOP talking points. + @DC_Draino Tweet [Quote Tweet, Jun. 8, 2023]
“What caused January 6 is pervasive censorship in this country in the lead up to January 6,” Ramaswamy said, repudiating the idea that Trump motivated the riot. “You tell people in this country they cannot speak. That is when they scream. You tell people they cannot scream. That is when they tear things down.”
“Until we look ourselves in the mirror and admit truth on that, we will not move forward as a country,” Ramaswamy added. [Politico, Jul 14, 2023]
The left calls Jan 6 a threat to “our democracy.” But the ultimate threat is when politically unaccountable actors literally *remove* democratically elected officials from office. That’s why the pending Jan 6 indictment of Trump is arguably the most dangerous of all to our Constitutional Republic. I believe the federal administrative police state is preparing to invoke the “insurrection” clause from Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to disqualify Trump from running, in a way that past indictments technically would not. This isn’t theoretical: in New Mexico, County Commissioner Cuoy Griffin was removed from office after his election for merely being physically *present* on the Capitol grounds on Jan 6, even though he was peaceful and did not even enter the building. That sets a dangerous precedent for states like New Mexico to try and keep Trump off the ballot, and a prosecution by Jack Smith would only strengthen their argument for doing so. It is un-American for the ruling party to use police power to arrest its chief political rivals. We need to know what Biden told Garland & what Garland told Jack Smith. We should know whose invisible hand is guiding these indictments, which is why I filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) demand to uncover *exactly* what the White House communicated to Garland & Smith to target Biden’s disfavored opponent in this election. We will get to the bottom of it, including by suing in federal court if necessary. I will address this and how we will shut down the corrupt administrative state on Thursday at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. + Video [Tweet, Jul. 18, 2023]
We *can* handle the TRUTH. COVID-19 origin. Who pressured companies to censor debate on vaccines. Who declared the Hunter Biden laptop to be “Russian disinformation.” Where our money in Ukraine disappeared. Jeffrey Epstein’s client list. What happened on January 6. We need a government that finally stops lying to its citizens. + Video [Tweet, Jul. 29, 2023]
Yesterday a man by the name of Owen Shroyer was sentenced to prison for *speech*, not violence, on Jan 6 – for marching around the Capitol, using a bull horn, & shouting things like “1776!” No violence. Didn’t enter the Capitol. That’s it. I don’t know the guy & I have no idea if he’s “a good person” or not, but that’s not what our justice system is supposed to determine. There is no greater threat to the First Amendment than the use of police power to silence political dissent. On Day 1, I will pardon all non-violent Jan 6 protesters & political prisoners. The DOJ used “evidence“ provided by the FBI to pursue this man and countless others. Today at 11AM in Washington, D.C., I will lay out a detailed plan for shutting down the FBI & other federal agencies. Will livestream on @X. [Tweet, Sept. 13, 2023]
America now has a two-tiered justice system: Antifa & BLM rioters roam free while peaceful January 6 protesters are imprisoned without bail. Biden’s “Department of Injustice” has executed over 1,000 arrests for nonviolent offenses related to January 6, casting a dark shadow over Lady Justice & the foundational principles of our legal system.
To unify this country, I commit as president to pardon all Americans who were targets of politicized federal prosecutions & those denied due process. This includes all peaceful, nonviolent January 6 protesters who were denied their constitutional due process rights. I will end the weaponization of police power in America. Every Republican candidate must be clear about where we stand on the hard issues. + Video [Tweet, Nov. 29, 2023]
TRUTH #1: January 6 now looks more & more like entrapment. + Video [Tweet, Dec. 5, 2023]
“Why am I the only person on this stage, at least, who can say that Jan. 6 now does look like it was an inside job?” Ramaswamy said, before he listed other topics popular in conspiracy circles.
“That the government lied to us for 20 years about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in 9/11? That the great replacement theory is not some grand right-wing conspiracy theory, but a basic statement of the Democratic Party’s platform? That the 2020 election was indeed stolen by Big Tech?” [NBC News, Dec. 6, 2023]
RAMASWAMY: So here’s my concern, Abby.
And I want to tell you guys where I’m at. If you had told me — it’s close to three years ago that January 6, 2021, happened. If you had told me three years ago, back when I was a biotech CEO, not steeped in this world — I was just consuming passive media, but was focused on my world of developing medicines.
If you had told me that January 6 was in any way an inside job, the subject of government entrapment, I would have told you that was crazy talk, fringe conspiracy theory nonsense.
I can tell you now, having gone somewhat deep in this, it’s not. I mean, the reality is this. We do have a government, first of all, we have technology, that has lied to us systematically over the last several years about the origin of COVID-19, about the Hunter Biden laptop that we were told was false by 51 CIA experts and otherwise, before we now know that it was true.
You can go straight down the list, the Trump-Russia disinformation collusion hoax, all of it. Now we come to January 6. The reality is, we know that there were federal law enforcement agents in that field. We don’t know how many. [CNN, Dec. 13, 2023]
A couple years ago, I’d have said that the idea that Jan 6 = entrapment was just a fringe conspiracy theory. It’s not. Face the facts: the government suppressed the release of video footage & other evidence that paint a very different picture of what really happened. The public deserves the truth. That’s not too much to ask. + @VivekGRamaswamy Tweet [Quote Tweet, Dec. 14, 2023]
If you’d have told me nearly 3 years ago when I was just a CEO that Jan. 6 was an inside job, I would’ve said that’s crazy talk. It’s not. There is now clear evidence that there was at the very least entrapment of peaceful protestors, similar to the fake Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot & countless other cases. The FBI won’t admit how many undercover officers were in the field on Jan 6, Capitol police on one hand fired rubber bullets & explosives into a peaceful crowd who they then willingly later allowed to enter the Capitol. That doesn’t add up & the actual evidence turns the prior narrative upside down: if the deep state is willing to manufacture an “insurrection” to take down its political opponents, they can do anything. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. [Tweet, Dec. 27, 2023]
TRUTH #8: The only person murdered on January 6 was Ashli Babbitt. Yesterday, her family filed a $30 million lawsuit against the federal government over her shooting. The lawsuit alleges that the officer who shot Babbitt had a record of gunplay & that his police powers were suspended in the past for “failing to meet or complete semiannual firearms qualification requirements.”
#EntrapmentDay + @TaylerUSA Tweet [Quote Tweet, Jan. 6, 2024]