GOP tensions flare over Jan. 6 attack

The Hill ^ | 02/08/22 08:04 PM EST | BY JORDAIN CARNEY

[RandFan]

Republicans are struggling to break out of a cycle of Jan. 6 controversies, reigniting tensions within the party heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

The fallout from the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) censure resolution is the latest controversy in recent weeks that has sucked up political oxygen and turned the spotlight from the Biden administration, where top GOP lawmakers would like to keep it, to intraparty divisions centered around the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol carried out by a mob of former President Trump’s supporters.

On Tuesday, the top two Republicans in the Capitol took opposite stances responding to questions about the RNC’s resolution, underscoring their different approaches to both Jan. 6 and Trump.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) broke with the RNC over a resolution last week describing the Jan. 6 attack as “legitimate political discourse” and criticized the decision to censure GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) and Liz Cheney (Wyo.).

“It was a violent insurrection with the purpose of trying to prevent a peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election. ... That’s what it was,” McConnell said.

He added that while he had confidence in RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, the national committee shouldn't be “singling out” members of the party.

“That’s not the job of the RNC,” McConnell said.

McConnell vocally criticized Trump over the Jan. 6 attack last year, accusing him of being “practically and morally responsible.” McConnell did not vote to convict Trump in his impeachment trial for inciting the riot, arguing the former president had already left office.

A member of GOP leadership told The Hill that they weren’t surprised by McConnell’s response generally, but they were surprised that he used the word “insurrection.”

“He’s been pretty forward leaning on this,” the senator added.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who has remained close to Trump, appeared to defend the RNC’s use of "legitimate political discourse,” saying that it was linked to six members of the RNC who had been subpoenaed by the House panel. The actual RNC resolution didn’t mention that committee members had been subpoenaed.

“Everybody knows anybody who broke in and caused damage, that was not called for. And those people, we've said from the very beginning, should be in jail,” McCarthy told CNN.

The different remarks mirror the separate trails the two GOP leaders have walked when it comes to Trump.

McCarthy has aligned himself closely with the former president as he tries to win the Speaker’s gavel if Republicans take back the majority later this year.

McConnell, in contrast, largely avoids mentioning Trump, who routinely blasts the Kentucky senator in statements sent to the media.

It’s hardly the first time Jan. 6 has become a point of contention among Republicans.

Senate Republicans pushed back against Trump’s claim last week that former President Mike Pence could have overturned the election on Jan. 6 and his decision to float potential pardons if he runs for the White House in 2024 and wins.

Republicans worry that keeping Jan. 6 in the spotlight will hurt the party heading into the November midterms, where they think issues like inflation and the economy give them a good chance of winning back the House and Senate majorities.

“Stop talking about it, you know? Start talking about the things that are going to decide the election in November. Sometimes we can’t get out of our own way,” Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Republican senator, told The Hill.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), whose niece is McDaniel, added that “anything that my party does that comes across as being stupid is not going to help us."

Senate Republicans warned that the RNC inadvertently put a spotlight on the party divisions and should stick with supporting elected Republicans.

“The RNC statements, particularly the censuring of Adam and Liz, were not helpful. First of all, it's none of their business,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). He added of the RNC that “to some degree they’re helping keep something alive that most people want to move on from.”

House Republicans were more willing to defend the RNC’s censure of two of their own members.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who replaced Cheney as chair of the House Republican Conference last year, said the RNC has “every right to take any action.”

“The RNC has every right to take any action. And the position that I have is that you're ultimately held accountable to voters in your district. Voters who you represent. And we're going to hear the feedback and the views of voters pretty quickly here this year,” Stefanik said at a press conference.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), who switched parties in 2019, told The Hill that “it was appropriate that they did get censured.”

“Frankly, Congresswoman Cheney particularly was very mean-spirited,” Van Drew added.

House GOP leaders are trying to avoid highlighting divisions as they head into the midterms, with Stefanik saying that taking additional action against Cheney or Kinzinger didn’t get brought up in a closed-door conference meeting.

Instead, during the meeting, GOP leadership tried to emphasize the need for Republicans to work together, playing a video from a past Super Bowl where the Los Angeles Rams players were introduced individually, in contrast to the New England Patriots, who were introduced as a team. The Patriots won that game.

“This is how we should act,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), summarizing the GOP leadership's message with the video. “It was just a nice little homily to begin the conference.”

[grey_whiskers]

Hey Mitch.

Sod Off, Swampy, as the old saying goes.

[Karliner]

Just shows how they can’t defend the Jan 6th people else also defending Trump. And God forbid they do that. I wonder how many of those people in the House and Senate voted for Brandon.

[Lurkinanloomin]

Separating the Assistant Democrats from the party is essential for the survival of the country.

[WMarshal]

Very few of your swamp candidates are going to survive their primaries Mitch “the ChiCom Bitch” McConnell.

[Lurkinanloomin]

Probably a bunch of these people:

The infrastructure bill passed with the help of these nineteen Assistant Democrats.

Dan Sullivan (R-AK) Trump endorsed
Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) Trump endorsed
Mike Crapo (R-ID) Trump endorsed
Roy Blunt (R-MO) Retiring
Richard Burr (R-NC) Retiring
Deb Fischer (R-NE) Trump endorsed
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Trump endorsed
Rob Portman (R-OH) Retiring
Thom Tillis (R-NC) Trump endorsed
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) being primaried by Trump endorsed candidate
Jim Risch (R-ID) Trump endorsed
Chuck Grassley (R-IA) Trump endorsed
Bill Cassidy (R-LA) Trump endorsed
Kevin Cramer (R-ND) Trump endorsed
Roger Wicker (R-MS) Trump endorsed
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Trump endorsed
John Hoeven (R-ND) No endorsement yet
Susan Collins (R-ME) Trump endorsed
Mitt Romney (R-UT) Trump endorsed

[TakebackGOP]

The donors are behind Mitch McConnell. For him to support two traitors to the right shows how anti-conservative he is.

[FlipWilson]

I call BS. The article presupposes that Jan. 6 is something that is an issue. It is something that has gravitas with the public.

It isn’t and it doesn’t.

[Lurkinanloomin]

This cycle, Amnesty Senator Rubio, Crapo, Grassley, Amnesty Senator Hoeven, Lankford, Lee, Moran, Scott, Thune and Young all need to be primaried in 2022, even if Trump endorses them.

[rightwingcrazy]

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), whose niece is McDaniel, added that “anything that my party does that comes across as being stupid is not going to help us.”

Do tell, Mitt.

[Shady]

“Team Mitch’s” uniforms are canary yellow. Get lost, you jerk.

[ClearCase_guy]

GOP tensions flare

I think there is an implication here that the Democrats, you see, are calm, and unemotional. They are statesman-like and judicious in their handling of the hearings. But those, Republicans? Whoo Boy! You know how they are!! Anger and hatred, man, 24/7 from those guys!

[Thank You Rush]

Those politicians in DC are going to SPIN right into outer space the way they’re going - and the people who cover for them. Greatest spin machine ever!

[Karliner]

Yep, only the ones we know. Trump really was a stand alone president. They despised an outsider shaking the trees.

[jacknhoo]

The Hill may as well be Media Matters.

[olezip]

“It was a violent insurrection with the purpose of trying to prevent a peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election. ... That’s what it was,” McConnell said.

McConnell knows that it was a riot, instigated by government plants, and Nancy Pelosi's failure to secure the doors and turning down the help of the National Guard. McConnell also knows that the election was rigged as more and more evidence is coming out.

But McConnell's blind hatred for Donald Trump is clouding his judgment as complicated by his Chinese connections and income.

McConnell needs to be called out for falsely claiming that the riot was an insurrection. I do not think that McConnell knows what the word insurrection means, especially an insurrection without firearms.

[Bratch]

McConnell States the People Can Never Be Permitted a Voice in Politics, and January 6th Was a Terrorist Attack

February 8, 2022 | sundance | 47 Comments

Mitch McConnell and his team of UniParty leaders made a strong statement today against anyone who would ever have the audacity to stand in opposition to the upper elite within the United States government.  The timing of McConnell to align with Joe Biden is not coincidental.

First, to the status of the January 6th protestors, DeceptiCon party leader Mitch McConnel affirms the united DC position that all J6 protestors were violent domestic terrorists, carrying out an insurrection attempt, intent on destroying the carefully constructed democracy the DC elites are providing to the people.

Stunningly, the second point was McConnell admonishing the RNC for rejecting Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger as members of the Republican Party platform.  McConnell now states the Republican Party should have no input in determining who is supported by the Republican membership. 

WATCH:

McConnell rebukes RNC over censure resolution

McConnell’s first point about the J6 group only highlights the UniParty alignment with the larger DC interests.  The system of government in the United States, as controlled by political leadership, will not permit any challenge.

Whether it be Democrat Joe Biden, using the executive branch DHS to target dissident voices as terrorists, or whether it be Republican Mitch McConnell, labeling J6 attendees as terrorists, the absolute intent is the same.  DC are the rulers and everyone else is in a position to be ruled.

On the second point of McConnell calling out the RNC for acting against his interests, perhaps the MAGA movement influence in the RNC is more significant than it appears on the surface.

McConnell’s statement would seemingly infer he feels the RNC is less attached to the power structure in DC than he would like.

Previously, Mitch McConnell used the RNC to do exactly what he is now accusing them of doing – providing authentication for the ‘right kind’ of Republican that would be supported.  Now, with the RNC perhaps less aligned with the interests of his totalitarian DC system, McConnell is not pleased to see them involved in candidate authentication and approval.

Last point. For well over a decade, CTH has been pointing out the danger of Mitch McConnell as the traitor inside the gates of the Republic seeking to destroy it for his own personal gain, politics and power.  WE on this site have been standing as a flea looking into the furnace of political hatred for sounding the alarms about McConnell for the entire time of our ‘last refuge’ assembly.

Today, February 8, 2022, almost twelve years to the day when we first gathered to discuss this seemingly insurmountable task of taking on the system that Mitch McConnell represents, there are now multi-millions of people awake to what we have discussed for so many years.

For the fellowship of the tens-of-millions newly wide-eyed and awake patriots, I am very thankful.

Today is a good day.

The tide is in our favor.

Let us make haste toward the goal of removing Mitch McConnell, and pledge to one another that not another coat of distracting paint will be applied to this corrupted DC vessel until we have taken it down to bare metal.

Whatever it takes.

[Jim Noble]

The GOP may not survive to the midterm elections.

[dfwgator]

So be it.

[Jim Noble]

The sooner the GOP is destroyed, the sooner we can begin to make progress.