What happened in the US capital 6. January 2021 was, of course, anything but legal political activity. Storming Congress was a brutal attack on democracy. The rebels tried violently to annul a legal election result.
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It says something about the state of the Republican Party that their national committeeé in a resolution uses the words “ordinary citizens who participated in a legitimate political discourse” about what unfolded.
Two courageous and principled party members, representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, are condemned by the National Committee and called disloyal, because they participate in the committee investigating what happened.
Since the resolution was passed last weekend, there has been a split in the Republican Party. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has condemned Cheney and Kinzinger.
McConnell describes exactly what happened: – we were all there. We saw what happened. It was a violent uprising in which the aim was to try to prevent a peaceful seizure of power from one administration to another after a legitimate election.
–Some Republicans dare to say the same. Senator Mitt Romney says it’s shameful for a party to punish people who follow their conscience. But the vast majority of Republicans are silent or act like puppets for former president Donald Trump.
Trump, of course, praises the resolution. It is in his spirit and shows what power he has over the party.
After the resolution provoked strong reactions, the party leadership has tried to clarify that “legitimate political discourse” does not include those who used violence 6. January.
But in the resolution, the National Committee does not distance itself from the use of violence. They don’t mention it with a word. It is consistent with the fact that Trump and his companions have been trying for over a year to obscure, explain away and trivialize what happened.
In the first place, it is a problem for the Republican Party that they continue to spread the big lie that Trump was robbed of his election victory in 2020.
Fighting yesterday’s battle is not a winning recipe for Republicans, neither this year nor in 2024. At least Vice President Mike Pence has manned himself up to speak up against Trump: ‘President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election results, Pence said recently.
But most Republicans don’t want Trump to lose. They are unable to deal with the violent attempt to overturn the election results.
Trump pledged to pardon those who participated if given the opportunity. Republicans are punishing those who seek the truth. This is a serious problem for American democracy.
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