In his MSNBC column this Friday, Steve Benen points out that the partisan backlash against Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger's participation in the Jan. 6 committee is growing, reaching the point where a Republican National Committee panel unanimously advanced a resolution on Thursday to censure the two lawmakers.
Benen cites a Washington Post article that revealed Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel "also worked behind the scenes with David Bossie, a top Trump ally, to author and push a resolution that attacked Cheney's work on the committee, called her a 'destructive' force in the GOP and vowed the party would no longer support her."
McDaniel went on to tell reporters that the GOP "had two members engage in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse."
According to Benen, this is a far cry from what the RNC said a year ago.
"Indeed, on Jan. 6 itself, the Republican National Committee released a written statement 'strongly condemning' the riot," Benen writes, "adding, 'These violent scenes we have witnessed do not represent acts of patriotism, but an attack on our country and its founding principles.' Perhaps the party has changed its mind."
"This, too, wildly contradicted everything Trump said in the immediate aftermath of the insurrectionist assault on the Capitol, when he condemned those responsible for the 'heinous attack.' The then-president added at the time, 'The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy.... To those who engage in the acts of violence and destruction: You do not represent our country, and to those who broke the law: You will pay.'"
Read the full op-ed over at MSNBC.