Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) joined the chorus of those trying to downplay the events of January 6 this week, whining that the “upscale liberals who control the media and Democrat party believe Jan 6th was another Pearl Harbor or 9/11,” before adding that “the rest of America, including many Democrats, think they are nuts.” Is that really the place where Rubio wants to stake his claim, so to speak? That huge numbers of physical assaults on police officers and active threats to the lives of the vice president of the United States and top Congressional leaders (among others) by a mob angry over an election outcome were all… not that bad?
Guardian US: Jan. 6 committee’s new focus on whether Trump oversaw a criminal conspiracy marks an aggressive escalation as it confronts evidence that suggests Trump engaged in most serious criminal conduct
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) January 8, 2022
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who has consistently proven himself to be one of the only Republicans in Congress willing to take a serious look at the events of January 6, dinged Rubio for his insolence. As Kinzinger put it in a response to Rubio’s remarks:
‘Marco what happened to you man? You’re correct, it wasn’t like Pearl Harbor. Because after Pearl, America woke up and defeated fear. Now, leaders like you keep stoking it. You’re better than this.’
Marco what happened to you man? You’re correct, it wasn’t like Pearl Harbor. Because after Pearl, America woke up and defeated fear. Now, leaders like you keep stoking it. You’re better than this. https://t.co/oDLc7Eyo54
— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) January 8, 2022
Obviously, Kinzinger has a point… but is Rubio “better than this”? Rubio might not be quite as obnoxious as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), but his overall transformation has been similar. He ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican primary… and then, once Trump ascended to victory in the primary and the general election, Rubio backed him. At any point, the Florida Senator could have said enough was enough and walked away, but he didn’t. Instead, he voted to leave Trump with the potential to regain control of the reins of presidential power even after the attack on the Capitol last January, joining those who backed acquittal at the conclusion of his post-riot impeachment trial. Notably enough, it’s Rubio’s own state that has produced the most charged riot participants, ahead of every other individual state (so far). Rubio could have decided to use this fact as a springboard for closely examining why something so serious happened and how something similar can be kept from happening again, but instead, it’s Twitter time!
The reason Trump is not in office today is because he didn’t receive enough votes to win the election.
The people said so. The states said so. The courts said so. The facts said so.
The Big Lie is poisoning our democracy. We will act to protect our democracy and voting rights.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 7, 2022