Most people believe those guilty of rioting and violence need to face justice. I already posted one of Trump’s lawyers Sidney Powell’s comments on that and she has done more for the innocent ones than probably anyone, especially Trump himself.
What has DeSantis said about the Jan. 6 insurrection?
U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis for his “silence” on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Ron DeSantis still hasn’t condemned the Jan. 6 insurrection,” Crist said in a tweet in late June. Crist has repeated such rhetoric at least seven times on Twitter.
Immediately after the attack, lawmakers — both Republicans and Democrats — publicly criticized the people who incited the violence.
DeSantis issued a statement on Jan. 6, 2021, condemning the Capitol riot: “Violence or rioting of any kind is unacceptable, and the perpetrators must face the full weight of the law.”
“It was totally unacceptable and those folks need to be held accountable,” DeSantis said. “It doesn’t matter what banner you’re flying under — the violence is wrong, the rioting and disorder is wrong.”
Although DeSantis denounced the violence and disorder on Jan. 6, 2021, he hasn’t called it an insurrection and has decried the media’s coverage.
On the anniversary of the Capitol riot, DeSantis likened Jan. 6 to “Christmas” for “D.C.-New York media,” saying the incident lets news outlets create “narratives that are negative” about former President Donald Trump’s supporters.
“They are going to take this and milk this for anything they could to try to be able to smear anyone who ever supported Donald Trump,” DeSantis said at a news conference.
“When they try to act like this is something akin to the Sept. 11 attacks, that is an insult to the people who were going into those buildings,” DeSantis said. “And it’s an insult to people when you say it’s an ‘insurrection’ and then, a year later, nobody has been charged with that.”
Still, DeSantis maintained that holding Jan. 6 participants accountable for their actions was appropriate: “Look, if you obstruct a proceeding, you’ve got to hold people accountable, hold rioting accountable.”
However, referring to House Select Committee hearings, DeSantis said Democrats were “beating a dead horse” and trying to “divert attention” from inflation.
“Gov. DeSantis stands for law and order,” Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’ press secretary, told PolitiFact. “He has always condemned all rioting and unlawful behavior, regardless of any political affiliations.”
DeSantis has been careful not to characterize the incident as an insurrection. On the riot’s anniversary, DeSantis said labeling the incident an insurrection and likening it to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is “an insult.”