Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, pressed by CNN’s Manu Raju on the RNC’s decision to refer to that day as “legitimate political discourse” in the resolution, said that what occurred on January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol was “a violent insurrection.”
“We all were here. We saw what happened,” McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said Tuesday. “It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next. That’s what it was.”
In an unusual break with the RNC, McConnell said the committee should not be “singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority,” adding that it’s “not the job of the RNC.”
“Traditionally, the view of the national party committees is we support all members of our party, regardless of their positions on some issues,” he said.
He noted, however, that he still has confidence in RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, meanwhile, defended the RNC’s use of “legitimate political discourse,” claiming that the RNC had been referring to the House select committee’s subpoenas to RNC officials who were in Florida at the time of the Capitol attack.
On that list, the committee had targeted some current and former RNC members to probe the effort to use fake electors in swing states in an apparent attempt to allow them to be used as alternates to a duly elected slate.
Source : cnn
