House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday the GOP has reached “rock bottom” after the Republican National Committee defended the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol as part of legitimate political discourse.
Mrs. Pelosi told reporters that she wanted to see Republicans grow the strength of their party and move away from the right-wing elements.
“Republicans seem to be having a limbo contest with themselves to see how low they can go,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “They seem to have reached rock bottom with their statement that what happened on January 6th was [legitimate] political discourse.”
The speaker added that she felt the Republican Party had been “hijacked” by growing populism.
“The country needs a strong Republican Party,” Mrs. Pelosi said. “They’ve made great contributions to our country. I say this to Republicans all the time. Take back your party from this cult. Take back your party.”
The RNC described the U.S. Capitol riot with such phrasing in a censure statement put out last week against Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
Ms. Cheney and Mr. Kinzinger sit on the Democratic-led select committee investigating the riot. The two lawmakers are viewed as the most anti-Trump Republicans in the House.
Republican leadership is split on the censure.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell broke with the RNC’s decision, saying it was not the job of the party organization to isolate and condemn members with differing viewpoints.
Mr. McConnell also rebuked the comments made about the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
“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,” Mr. McConnell said.
But House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he didn’t believe the RNC was referring to rioters when it referred to Jan. 6, 2021, as “legitimate political discourse.”
Mr. McCarthy suggested the phrasing referred to alternate electors that the Jan 6 committee subpoenaed, despite saying they were in Florida when the riot occurred.
“I think anybody, we all know this, who entered this building, that rioted, is not legitimate political discourse,” Mr. McCarthy said. “But I don’t think that’s what the RNC was talking about when you talk to them.”
Mrs. Pelosi hit at Mr. McCarthy over what she called his “refusal” to provide a significant response.
“It’s disturbing to see that the Republican leader of the House ran — actually, literally refused to condemn that resolution of legitimate political [discourse] — literally ran away from the press when he was asked about his position,” Mrs. Pelosi said.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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