Republican Ron Johnson should face a formal rebuke from the entire Senate: conservative columnist

Writing for The Washington Post this Wednesday, columnist Jennifer Rubin cited a recent radio interview given by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), where he said that he wasn't afraid during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack because he knew the mob consisted of people who "love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law."

Johnson then said that if the attackers had been members of Black Lives Matter or antifa, he would have been "a little concerned."

As Rubin points out, the mob did not "truly respect law enforcement," considering that many of them were caught on video attacking police officers, and Republicans have been mostly silent about Johnson's remarks.

But Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) isn't keeping silent.

"For Sen. Johnson to cast those who attacked the Capitol as harmless patriots while stoking fear of Black Americans is like rubbing salt in an open wound," Menendez said on the Senate floor this Tuesday. "Everyone in this body should know that when you perpetuate such racist tropes, you contribute to a culture that gives people permission to treat Black Americans as suspicious and their lives as expendable."

According to Rubin, Menendez and his colleagues should follow up with a resolution formally condemning Johnson.

"Unfortunately, it seems today's GOP more closely resembles the 1948 Dixiecrats than it does the GOP of 2002. Johnson will certainly not resign, and if a resolution of condemnation is brought, I would be shocked if a single Republican voted to rebuke him," Rubin writes.

Read the full op-ed over at The Washington Post.