The Republican National Committee set off a firestorm last week when it voted to censure two of its members – Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois – for participating in the House’s investigation of the January 6th riot in Washington, D.C.
So egregious was the language in the official censure – it described the Capitol attack as “legitimate political discourse” – that even GOP senators cried foul.
Those “who assaulted police officers, broke windows and breached the Capitol were not engaged in legitimate political discourse, and to say otherwise is absurd,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), expressing a sentiment shared by several GOP stalwarts in the upper chamber, including Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham, John Cornyn, and Shelley Moore Capito.
Of course, Democratic lawmakers also voiced vociferous criticism.
At a Tuesday press conference, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, provided our quote of the day.
“The ‘C’ in RNC doesn’t stand for committee, it stands for cult.”
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries
Jeffries noted that rioters “desecrated the Capitol,” and “brutally beat up police officers, seriously [injuring] 140.”
“Police officers lost their lives as the result of the events of January 6th,” Jeffries continued, “and the cult says it’s ‘legitimate political discourse?’”
“They come to that conclusion,” he added “because they continue to bend the knee to the twice impeached, so-called president, Donald Trump.”