'McConnell Is Done’: Far-Right Fury Over Leader’s Support For Cheney And Kinzinger
House Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is facing criticism from far-right Republicans over his condemnation of the Republican National Committee's (RNC) move to censure Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).
During his press conference on February 8, McConnell weighed in on the RNC's decision. On Friday of last week, the committee voted in favor of censoring the two Republican lawmakers simply for serving on the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
“The issue is whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority. That’s not the job of the RNC,” McConnell said, adding, "Traditionally the view of the national party committee is, we support all members of our party, regardless of their positions on some issues."
Breaking with Republican lawmakers, McConnell also described January 6 as it was: a “violent insurrection.”
“We all were here. We saw what happened," McConnell admitted. "It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election, from one administration to the next. That’s what it was."
Although the top-ranking Republican lawmaker is being praised for acknowledging the truth, conservatives are not pleased with his remarks. Many social media users from both sides of the political aisle have taken to Twitter to express their disapproval.
A number of other Republican lawmakers also echoed McConnell's sentiments. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) admitted that she believes the censure was “absolutely wrong,” and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) also weighed in saying the suggestion “that a violent attack on the seat of democracy is legitimate political discourse is so far from accurate as to shock and to make people wonder what we’re thinking.”
Reprinted with permission from Alternet