Former GOP Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming expressed outrage this week over the path taken by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who actually took over the party leadership position among House Republicans formerly held by Cheney herself.
Like others, Stefanik was first unequivocal in condemning the violence at the Capitol complex seen on January 6, 2021, in the name of Trump’s election lies. Yet, she recently referred to detainees with criminal cases originating in the chaos as “hostages,” clearly reflecting the continuing sentiment from the Right that these defendants have somehow been mistreated and their actions blown out of proportion.
A large share of those charged with Capitol riot crimes have pleaded guilty to criminal allegations against them, and many of their actions, backed as alleged by jury findings, a judge’s conclusions, or their own admissions, involved violent attacks on police. And this is where Republicans are at.
“This is what @EliseStefanik said, in a rare moment of honesty, about the January 6 attack on our Capitol. One day she will have to explain how and why she morphed into a total crackpot. History, and our children, deserve to know,” Cheney remarked on X, the platform formerly called Twitter. Cheney included a link to prepared remarks that Stefanik shared just after the actual violence. “The perpetrators of this un-American violence and destruction must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Stefanik said at the time back in 2021.
Trump himself, who remains the front-runner for Republicans’ presidential nomination this year, has used language similar to Stefanik’s latest, meaning her characterization of those defendant-detainees as “hostages.” Trump has also repeatedly suggested issuing presidential pardons for Capitol riot defendants if re-elected to the White House. Actual individuals on the other side of all of this include recently sentenced Florida defendant Kenneth Bonawitz, a January 6 participant involved with the far-right group the Proud Boys who was accused of assaulting a 9/11 first responder-turned-local officer so violently during the Capitol riot that the victim was forced from service. Is this Republicans’ preferred course?
This is what @EliseStefanik said, in a rare moment of honesty, about the January 6 attack on our Capitol. One day she will have to explain how and why she morphed into a total crackpot. History, and our children, deserve to know. https://t.co/rSvPe8PDzC
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) January 23, 2024
