On Thursday night, during the January 6 select committee’s first primetime hearing on the Republican-led attack on the U.S. Capitol building, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) took to social media to call out Republican lawmakers for attempting to downplay the violence of the attempted coup.
The committee played video after videoThe attack, which demonstrates not only the horrifying evidence of brutality but also the aftermath of the Donald Trump militantsRepublicans downplayed not only the intrusion at the Capitol, but also the violent intentions and plans of Republican leaders like Trump. “All. Old. News,” the Twitter account for House Judiciary Republicans wrote.
Ocasio-Cortez shot back, saying: “Oh, so if it’s old news surely you wouldn’t mind reminding us which of your members sought pardons after the attack … So who were they?”
“Was it [Rep. Andrew] Clyde? [Rep. Paul] Gosar? [Rep. Matt] Gaetz? [Rep. Jim] Jordan? [Rep. Lauren] Boebert? [Rep. Majorie Taylor] Greene? Others?” she said. “Please remind us, [House Republicans,]Which of your current sitting members requested pardons after this attack? Additional to [Rep. Scott Perry] of course.”
Rep. Liz Cheney (R.Wyoming), vice-chairwoman of the January 6 committee, was elected to chair it on Thursday night. revealedPerry was one of the Republican representativesIn the weeks following the attack, Perry contacted the White House to request a presidential pardon for his participation in the rally that led to the breaching of the Capitol Building. Perry, a Republican hailing from Pennsylvania, denies the allegation.
However, the revelation has prompted renewed scrutiny of what Republican lawmakers did to aid the attempted coup, as the fact that Perry and several other unnamed GOP members had sought pardons suggests that they were afraid they’d be convicted for their roles in the future.
Ohio Republican Jim Jordan who reportedly spoke to TrumpAs militants stormed the Capitol, I called the police and downplayed the violence. saying, “When’s the primetime hearing on record crime in Democrat-run cities?”
“According to CBS News, out of the Top 10 deadliest cities in America, seven of them are in Republican-run states,” Ocasio-Cortez replied. “Now, follow-up question: were you one of the members who sought a pardon after Jan 6th? I didn’t.”
Ocasio-Cortez also Followers were reminded thatAfter she shared her close-call experiences with the attackers and major conservative figures like Boebert, Fox News’s Tucker Carlson and Rep. Nancy Mace (R. South Carolina)During the attack, she mocked her fear.
This footage is amazing. @laurenboebert was tweeting the Speaker’s location as this was all happening.
When I shared my fear of being raped while locked in my office’s bathroom, @TuckerCarlsonIt was mocked. So did Boebert. @NancyMaceIt was insinuated that she was lying to her supporters. pic.twitter.com/I151oTFGP1
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 10, 2022
“There was (and continues to be) a widespread GOP campaign to downplay the scale of this attack,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in an Instagram story on Thursday as she showed a portion of the attack’s footage. “Does this look like a small localized attack to you? They were everywhere. They were everywhere. If you were anywhere within this area, would you have been scared?”
The committee revealed the extent of the violence in a series of revelations on Thursday. White House officials testified that Trump wanted to incite violence and keep it going. As the mob chanted “hang Mike Pence,” Trump said that the supporters “perhaps have the right idea,” and that Pence “deserves it,” Cheney said of the witness testimony.
Later in the evening, the committee revealed that one of its members was a member from the far right militia Proud Boys said that membership of the group tripled after Trump remarked in a presidential debate months before the attack that the group should “stand back and stand by.” The Proud Boys played It is a crucial roleActing as part of the attempted coup the armed muscleThat day, they crowded the Capitol.
