What Republicans Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell said about the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the time
4 August 2023
Today, many prominent Republicans are afraid of the MAGA base, which worships Trump. As Trump noted in 2016:
"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" Trump remarked at a campaign stop at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. "It's, like, incredible." NPR
But many Republicans who defend Trump now stated in early 2021 that he was, in fact, responsible for the January 6, 2021 insurrection (see 5:40 pm post).
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., claimed that former President Trump "bears responsibility" for his actions surrounding the January 6 Capitol riot in an audio of a House Republican conference call.
But let me be very clear to you and I have been very clear to the President. He bears responsibility for his words and actions. No if, ands or buts,” McCarthy told House Republicans on January 11, 2021, according to the audio obtained by CNN. “I asked him personally today, does he hold responsibility for what happened? Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened. And he needs to acknowledge that.”
On a separate call the day before, McCarthy said, “I had it with this guy. What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that, and nobody should defend it.” The book’s authors say those comments were in reference to Trump. CNN and MSNBC.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed:
"There's no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day," [Mitch] McConnell said shortly after the 57-43 Senate vote that ended in the former president's acquittal.
"The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president," he said, "and having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth."
McConnell rebuked Trump for his actions after the insurrection as well.
"He did not do his job. He didn't take steps so federal law could be faithfully executed and order restored," he continued. NPR.
Attorney General William Barr, one of Trump’s most loyal supporters during his Presidency, stated at the time and since that there was no evidence of election fraud.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr said in an interview with members of the House Jan. 6 committee that he told former President Donald Trump that there was no evidence of fraud in the 2020 election, according to video played during the committee's June 9 primetime hearing. Barr said he had several conversations with Trump before the Jan. 6 attack. “That is one of the reasons that went into me deciding to leave when I did. I observed … that you can’t live in a world where the incumbent administration stays in power based on its view, unsupported by specific evidence, that there was fraud in the election,” Barr testified in a deposition before the committee. YouTube.
We have a choice: doing good or doing evil, supporting democracy or tolerating authoritarian rule. I suggest that each one of us must do more to support democracy and the rule of law than we have done in the past, in addition to voting. Help a candidate, institution or cause. Volunteer. Write a check. Trump has called for suspending the Constitution. What are you doing to make sure this does not happen?
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