Keystone
The commemoration of the violent attack on the US capital a year ago highlights the split between Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
At various commemorations in Washington, especially Democrats spoke, while Republicans were reluctant to issue public statements and appearances.
For example, Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader in the Senate, only issued a written statement describing the attack as a “dark day” for Congress and the country, and for calling the attackers “guilty.” At the same time, however, McConnell accused “some” Democrats of using the anniversary for party political purposes. The other leaders of the Republican Party were silent.
Supporters of then-Republican US President Donald Trump besieged Congress on January 6, 2021 to prevent Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 election. Five people were killed in the attack. The attack on the heart of American democracy shook the country. Trump had earlier provoked his supporters in a speech.
Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, a close confidante of the president during Trump’s tenure, wrote on Twitter “regardless of the reason for the attack on the Capitol,” that a mob had attacked congressional headquarters. At the same time, Graham accused Democrats of trying to use the annual festival to campaign for radical changes to electoral law. Graham criticized Biden’s speech at the annual ceremony aimed at renewing his failed presidency.
Among Trump’s most loyal supporters were Republican MPs Matt Gates and Marjorie Taylor Green, who stood out with their own press appearance. At a press conference they again spread right-wing conspiracy theories and raised suspicions that officials such as the Federal Police FBI may have been involved in the attack on Capitol.
They could not answer the question of possible scope. “I do not trust our government,” Green said. Gaetz said: “Marjorie and I are here today because we do not want the voice of the Republicans to go unheeded and we do not want today’s historical stories to be abducted and taken over by real rebels.”
SDA