WATCH: GOP senator gets called out for rewriting the history of the Jan. 6 attack
MSNBC reporter Garrett Haake called out Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) for his denial of facts about the Jan. 6 attack.
"It's the same date on both of their calendars but they are looking at it almost entirely differently other than that," Haake said of Democrats and Republicans. "As all the events today were organized by Democratic leadership, the president of the United States on down to the Speaker of the House with events all day long and they will be attended by almost exclusively Democrats, no congressional House Republicans except for perhaps Liz Cheney (R-WY) are expected to attend. Kevin McCarthy isn't even in Washington, D.C. today. No Senate Republicans to my knowledge are expected to attend any of these events, although many of them, a majority of that conference will be at the funeral for one of their own former Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson down in Georgia."
He called out the partisan views around Jan. 6, specifically citing Johnson's evolving positions on the day.
"I could tell you that started immediately. I mean, we think about it happening in the days and weeks afterward, but I was just going back through my notes from the 6th and found an interview I did with Ron Johnson, the Republican Senator from Wisconsin, who told me that night before the vote counting was even done that he said Republicans, himself, and Donald Trump took no responsibility for what had happened," Haake recalled. "So, the rewriting of history around Jan. 6 continued on the last Jan. 6, it continues through this one and I suspect it will continue through all the anniversaries to come of this day."
It took Johnson a little over one month before he told a talk radio host, "It didn't look like an armed insurrection to me."
"Armed, when you hear armed — don't you think of firearms?" said Johnson. "Here's a question I'd like to have answered: How many firearms were confiscated? How many shots were fired?"
On the actual day of the attack at least 6 weapons were taken from the 52 arrested, KTLA reported. However, photos and videos of the attack clearly showed that people brought far more. One Alabama man brought 11 Molotov cocktails along with other weapons and ammunition.
In May 2021, Johnson took it even further, saying that the Jan. 6 attack was largely a "peaceful protest." Speaking to Fox News personality Laura Ingraham he claimed, "Even calling it an insurrection, it wasn't. You know, I condemned the breach. I condemned the violence, but to say there were thousands of armed insurrectionists breaching the Capitol intent on overthrowing the government is just simply false narrative."
There have been over 700 people arrested for their participation. It's unknown if Johnson is disputing the number of people or disputing that they wanted to overthrow the government. The goal was to stop the count of the 2020 election, which is being charged as an attempt to impede an official government action.
State treasurer Sarah Godlewski, who along with Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson are running to challenge Johnson, released a video showing Johnson's words matched up with the actions on video from Jan. 6.
"Ron Johnson has spent the past year peddling Trump’s Big Lie, trying to gaslight the American public about the violent insurrection, and working to find new ways to silence the will of the voters in future elections," her campaign said in a release.
See the clip of Haake below:
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