Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) didn't mince words on MSNBC on Saturday morning, saying the attendees who are showing up for the "Justice for J6" rally are no better than the jailed insurrectionists who are currently awaiting trial for attacking the Capitol on Jan 6th.
Speaking with host Alex Witt, Lieu was asked about the rally which, early on, appeared to be sparsely attended with media and law enforcement making up most of the crowd.
"If Republicans want to prevent the risk of further political violence, all they have to do is say one simple truthful sentence: 'the election was not stolen,'" Lieu explained. "The refusal to do that and to keep promoting the big lie is harmful to our democracy and it's going to result in further political violence."
"The people who showed up on January 6th and assaulted our Capitol, they're not heroes, they're traitors, they're insurrectionists," he added. "And anyone showing up today to support those people also are of the same mindset and it's highly disturbing that you still have people in America who want to take our democracy and destroy it."
The very small crowd size at the #JusticeforJ6 traitorous rally shows the waning influence of the former President. https://t.co/zdf0GCTlFs— Ted Lieu (@Ted Lieu) 1631983941.0
With live video from the rally showing on the screen, host Witt asked, "My colleague there on the ground said maybe 100, it may have grown to 150. How do you think this, Congressman, combined with the landslide victory in California of Gavin Newsom beating that recall election, do you think the lackluster presence here, the landslide victory for Gavin Newsom, is something of a repudiation of Donald Trump right now? Do you think his influence is waning slowly but surely?"
"Absolutely," the California Democrat replied. "A recent poll came out showing that approximately half of Republican voters would prefer a different nominee for 2024, someone other than Donald Trump and he has only been out of office for about ten months. You already see his influence has waned, you're going to see that continue in the next three years."
You can watch below:
MSNBC 09 18 2021 12 24 45 youtu.be
