Few Republican leaders spoke out Friday against the GOP for officially censuring Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for serving on the House select committee investigating the biggest attack on the U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812.
The Republican National Committee called the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection “legitimate political discourse” — even though 140 police officer were injured in clashes with rioters and, to date, more than 740 people have been arrested in the attack. Seven people died during or shortly after the storming of the Capitol.
Cheney lashed out Friday afternoon with a disturbing video of the violence, adding: “This is not ‘legitimate political discourse.’”
Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan grieved on Twitter: “It’s a sad day for my party — and the country—when you’re punished just for expressing your beliefs, standing on principle, and refusing to tell blatant lies.”
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said in a statement that Jan. 6 “was not ‘legitimate political discourse’ and I’ll say it again: It was shameful mob violence to disrupt a constitutionally-mandated meeting of Congress to affirm the peaceful transfer of power.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) was confounded by the censure. “The RNC is censuring Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger because they are trying to find out what happened on January 6th - HUH?”
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) pounced on his party early and hard.
“Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol,” he tweeted Friday. “Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost.”
“More important than who wins an election is that we have elections — and that we have democracies,” Romney said in an interview. “As authoritarian regimes around the world continue to gain ground, the United States cannot falter on principles of truth in our elections,” he tweeted.
And, so far, that’s about it from the Republican side of the aisle.