Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) criticized the Republican National Committee’s recent censure of GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) and Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and broke with the RNC’s characterization of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, calling it a “violent insurrection.”
“We all were here. We saw what happened. 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,” McConnell, told reporters at his weekly news conference.
McConnell’s remarks come as the RNC is receiving backlash for referring to the deadly insurrection on Jan. 6 at the Capitol as “legitimate political discourse” in their censure resolution of the two lawmakers.
McConnell said on Tuesday that the role of the RNC is to back all Republicans, not to pick and choose which ones to support.
“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.
