Not all Republicans have fallen for the party’s acceptance of Donald Trump as their leader. There are a few who have spoken out against him and his actions. They more accurately reflect what is becoming the “new” old GOP. Here is one of the few, the outspoken, and the independent Republican senators responding to a ghastly representative description of January 6, comparing rioters to a “normal tourist visit.”
Longtime GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) spoke to CNN:
‘I’m offended by that.This was not a peaceful protest. When somebody breaks and enters, and then just because you know they don’t completely trash your house once you’re inside does not mean that it has been peaceful. This was not a peaceful protest.’
She continued, saying that the legislators must call out the “aggression and destruction:”
‘We got to get beyond that rhetoric and acknowledge that what happened were acts of aggression and destruction towards an institution, and there were some people intent on [harming] the people that were part of that institution.’
She said she was open to the bipartisan support for a commission to investigate January 6:
‘I’m one that thinks that there should be an investigation regarding the events on the 6th.’
Murkowski was one of the seven members of her party who voted to impeach Trump for “inciting the insurrection.” She said the nation needed to consider all of the police’s and other witnesses’ testimony:
‘[Focus] on the events themselves, that kind of encompass all of these different views.’
Moderate Representative Joe Manchin (D-WV) supported Murkowski, according to CBS:
‘People understand that they have a person that understands Alaska and has Alaska in her blood and in every part of her veins and every morsel of her body.’
Murkowski said she would “welcome his endorsement.” The House will consider the bipartisan panel, but GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has been against it, thus far. The official Republican line has been:
‘I don’t know, I didn’t see it.’
Another member of the Georgia GOP Representative Andrew Clyde said:
 ‘Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes taking videos and pictures. You know, if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.’
When. reporters asked if he believed that those who support Trump were at the Capitol Building on January 6, he replied as the elevator doors shut:
‘Did you advocate for the Democrats to be charged with obstructing session?’
When journalists asked Clyde to expound, he grew testy:
‘You didn’t take what I said in context at all. That’s just fake news.’
Known for his out-there opinions, Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) spoke on the House floor and said:
‘There have been things worse than people without any firearms coming into a building.’
 Gohmert said in a brief hallway interview:
‘Any violence should not be downplayed. But people who are not engaged in violence should not be charged with crime.’
At a congressional hearing earlier this week, several Republicans made controversial claims about the rioters, including Arizona Republican Representative Paul Gosar. He claimed the Department of Justice (DOJ) was harassing “peaceful patriots:”
‘[The DOJ is] harassing peaceful patriots across the country.’
Representative Ralph Norman (R-SC) commented about rioters that day:
‘I don’t know who did a poll to say that they were Trump supporters.’
GOP Representative Jody Hice (R-GA) added:
‘It was Trump supporters who lost their lives that day, not Trump supporters who were taking the lives of others.’
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
