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GOP sparks social media firestorm: declares January 6 attack “Legitimate Political Discourse”

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The Republican Party has set off a social media firestorm by declaring the January 6 violent insurrection as “legitimate political discourse.” It’s a firestorm that is likely to continue and is likely to be a godsend to Democrats in the battle for suburban and independent voters. It is quite a rebranding:

The Republican Party on Friday officially declared the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and events that led to it “legitimate political discourse,” and rebuked two lawmakers in the party who have been most outspoken in condemning the deadly riot and the role of Donald J. Trump in spreading the election lies that fueled it.

The Republican National Committee’s voice vote to censure Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois at its winter meeting in Salt Lake City culminated more than a year of vacillation, which started with party leaders condemning the Capitol attack and Mr. Trump’s conduct, then shifted to downplaying and denying it.

On Friday, the party went further in a resolution slamming Ms. Cheney and Mr. Kinzinger for taking part in the House investigation of the assault, saying they were participating in “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

Amid a firestorm of criticism, party leaders immediately tried to walk it back:

After the vote, party leaders rushed to clarify that language, saying it was never meant to apply to rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in Mr. Trump’s name.

But it’s probably too late. On social media:


And other reaction:

Daily Kos:

What’s worrying Republicans in D.C. is that their party has made supporting violent insurgency not just something they can ignore in the name of “moving on,” but a prerequisite of membership. That move is genuinely doing what the censure resolution claimed about Cheney and Kinzinger—creating a division in the party that endangers their efforts to capture the House in November.

Republican candidates are going to end up running in November not on some variant of “Biden is bad,” but having to actively endorse the idea that the Jan. 6 insurgency was good. The RNC is putting them in a position where they have no choice but to buy into Trump’s pardon offer if they want access to the resources and financial support of the party.

Republicans are now officially, objectively the pro-insurrection, pro-violence, pro-sedition party. After all, those claims about “ordinary citizens engaged in in legitimate political discourse” must surely include the members of the Oath Keepers who have been charged with seditious conspiracy, and whose plans for Jan. 6 included stationing massive caches of weapons and explosives just outside D.C.

Pattirico’s Pontifications:

If you consider what happened on Jan. 6 as legitimate political discourse, and believe that efforts to root out the truth and hold accountable any and all for the events of Jan. 6 are “destructive to the…Republican Party,” then welcome home! It is inarguable that today’s Republican Party is where the quest for truth, protecting the Constitution, and holding individuals accountable for their actions is not only unwelcome but will result in punishment and rejection. By officially establishing the party litmus test (fealty to Trump), and publicly excoriating the last few honest brokers in the party, the Jan.6 participants themselves can be reassured that the Republican Party remains their home. While integrity clearly has no home in the Republican Party, all “legitimate political discourse” is welcome there..

I left the Republican Party some time ago. I’m just not into that kind of “legitimate political discourse”. Today I am reminded that it was one of my better decisions.

The Racket News:

“Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes.”

The last point is the most galling and crosses the line into an Orwellian distortion of recent history. There was never an assault or the Capitol or an attempt to bully Congress and Vice President Pence into overturning the results of the election. There were only “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

What the Republican National Committee is doing here is to normalize trying to overturn the results of a lawful election and stop a constitutional transfer of power. This is deeply dangerous to the Republic and strikes at the core of American democracy and constitutional rule.

We should all be able to agree as Americans, especially those of us who purport to be constitutionalists, that election results should be accepted. Likewise, law and order Republicans should not condone the violent and anti-constitutional behavior of what amounts to a small fringe of their party that assaulted the Capitol on January 6.

Unfortunately, people like the ones on the RNC Rules Committee are why we can’t have nice things. There should be room in the Republican Party for conservatives who want limited, constitutional government but who don’t want to follow Donald Trump blindly.

The real problem is that supporting limited, constitutional government and following Donald Trump are mutually exclusive. You can’t do both because Donald Trump is at heart someone who wants unlimited power.

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