WATCH: Flailing GOP senator blames everyone but Trump as he gets grilled over the Capitol riot
June 03, 2021
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) defensively responded to questions about Donald Trump's role in the January 6th insurrection as the GOP senator attempted to blame everyone but the former president for the attack on democracy.
Johnson made his comments during a Zoom interview with the Milwaukee Press Club.
"Why are you not aggressively looking at what happened that day from the perspective of President Trump's role in what happened on January 6th?" asked Charles Benson of WTMJ-TV. "You were against the bipartisan commission."
"Because we've had an impeachment trial," Johnson replied.
"So you got all of the answers we needed?' Benson asked.
Johnson responded by attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for lack of security at the Capitol without noting that the Trump administration delayed the deployment of National Guard soldiers.
"I don't trust her to select commissioners to investigate her own involvement in this thing, her own culpability or any congressional leader's culpability in this," he said.
"Senator, a lot of figures in your own party have assigned some degree — or a high degree — of blame to former President Trump for what happened on January 6th, including Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), including Mitch McConnell (R-KY), including your fellow Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher (R-WI), including Liz Cheney (R-WY)," noted Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Washington bureau chief Craig Gilbert. "Do you think he bears any responsibility at all for what happened?"
But Johnson did not assign any responsibility to Trump and instead deflected with a ridiculous attempt to tie Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to the 2017 shooting session at a practice session for a congressional baseball game.
"I actually blame the perpetrators of the crime," Johnson said, ignoring the fact Trump spent months both before and after the election pushing his "Big Lie" that incited the insurrection.
"But you don't think [Trump] bears any responsibility?" Gilbert asked.
Johnson sighed and shook his head from side-to-side.
"I think our hyper-partisan politics is driving all of this, which is why my actions have been designed to try and defuse the passion, to not scornfully dismiss legitimate concerns," Johnson replied, despite the fact the insurrectionists did not present any legitimate concerns about the 2020 election, which was won by Joe Biden.
Johnson claimed there was "plenty of societal blame to go around."
Watch:
Leave a Comment