The failed MAGA coup of January 6 was a terrifying day in American history, but it could have been even worse. Thanks to Capitol Police officers, the violent Trump supporters weren’t able to kidnap or murder members of Congress, hang former vice president Mike Pence, or overturn the election. It was a no-brainer for the House to come together for a rare bipartisan union and award them the Congressional Medal of Honor for helping to save democracy. But of course, there were some dissenters, and they were the usual suspects.
As per CNN, a mere 12 Republicans voted the measure down, but they’re about who you’d expect. There was Matt Gaetz, of course (though not Jim Jordan, the Beavis to his Butt-head). Marjorie Taylor Greene was a shoe-in. Tooth-loser Louise Gohmert, obviously. And then the rest: Andy Biggs of Arizona; Thomas Massie of Kentucky; Andy Harris of Maryland; Lance Gooden of Texas; Michael Cloud of Texas; Andrew Clyde of Georgia; Bob Good of Virginia; Greg Steube of Florida; and John Rose of Tennessee.
Why would they vote to not award the hard-working, blue-collar types that saved their hides? Because the award dared mention that they earned it for the actions during the January 6 riot, which it referred to as an “insurrection.” Gohmert even filed an alternative version, which erased the Jan. 6 date entirely, merely saying the fallen officers “passed in January.”
Gaetz, meanwhile, found it “offensive,” claiming it combined the honor with “editorial comments about the January 6 sequence of events” — a pretty next-level fit of vague word salad to describe a catastrophe that led to actual deaths.
But Liz Cheney, the leading Republican in the House, one of the Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, did not mince words. “What happened on January 6 was an attack on the Capitol,” she told CNN. “The officers who defended us, both Capitol Police, the Metropolitan police, all the law enforcement officers who defended us put their lives on the line — some lost their lives — and there should be no question that we’re awarding people a gold medal for their actions on that day,”
In any case, this means there are 12 House Republicans who are okay publicly admitting what happened on Jan. 6 was not what it really was. Then again, one could definitely say it was a “sequence of events.”
(Via CNN)