No comment on Trump indictment from the MAGA-bashing Biden White House.
(CNSNews.com) - The White House on Tuesday condemned the Republican National Committee (RNC) for using the phrase “legitimate political discourse” in a resolution censuring Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wis.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for investigating what happened at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“Your reaction to the RNC declaring what happened on January 6 as legitimate political discourse, and Democrats on the Hill today are being very vocal about this. Hakeem Jeffries says the C in RNC stands for cult. Does the White House agree with that?” a reporter asked.
“I think it’s clear to Americans that what happened on January 6 was not legitimate political discourse. Storming the Capitol in an attempt to halt the peaceful transition of power is not legitimate political discourse. Neither is attacking and injuring over 140 police officers, smashing windows and defiling offices,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
“It’s telling to all of us that some leading Republicans have rejected that characterization, including the former president’s national security adviser and the chief of staff to the former vice president, who as he put it, had a front row seat that day, including as rioters chanted for the former vice president to be hanged,” she said.
“So again, we certainly reject the notion that that was legitimate political discourse as we think a very large number of Americans would as well,” the press secretary said.
As CNSNews.com previously reported, the RNC’s resolution states:
"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, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members of the Republican Party for their behavior..."
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel spoke out against a New York Times headline, which read: "G.O.P. Declares Jan. 6 Attack 'Legitimate Political Discourse."
She called the NYT article “completely false,” adding that “it’s not journalism, it’s the worst type of baseless political propaganda.”
McDaniel tweeted that “Cheney and Kinzinger chose to join Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol. The NYT needs to correct this story now, or again expose themselves as political hacks.”
She emphasized that she has “repeatedly condemned violence on both sides of the aisle.”
“Unfortunately, this committee has gone well beyond the scope of the events of that day."
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) criticized the RNC for censuring Cheney and Kinzinger, saying it’s “not the job of the RNC” to single out Republicans “who may have different views than the majority.”
“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,” McConnell said Tuesday.
He said he still has confidence in RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, but “the issue is whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views than the majority. That’s not the job of the RNC.”