Grant Stern, a liberal journalist, asked House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) about his opposition to a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol but was forcibly removed from the presser in response to his question.
“Minority leader, you said that the 1960 revolution, it created tyranny on the island of Cuba. And I am asking you a question,” Stern, a radio broadcaster and the executive editor of Occupy Democrats, said on Thursday.
He continued, “It’s not a Democratic or Republican issue. So, why do you oppose the January 6 Commission, sir? Why do you oppose the January 6 Commission, sir?”
Stern was then removed. He said in a tweet, “I tried to ask [GOP Leader] McCarthy a question after he decried Cuban police pickup up people in the streets. Why does he oppose the bipartisan [January 6th Commission]? A Congressional staffer had four cops pick me up and drag me from the room. I still asked the question.”
Watch the video below:
I tried to ask @GOPLeader McCarthy a question after he decried Cuban police pickup up people in the streets.
— Grant Stern (@grantstern) August 5, 2021
Why does he oppose the bipartisan #January6thCommission?
A Congressional staffer had four cops pick me up and drag me from the room.
I still asked the question. pic.twitter.com/HDqrhvARaC
A spokesperson for McCarthy, Matt Sparks, told The Independent that “congressional staff had nothing to do [with] his removal.” On Friday, Stern announced he is filing a civil rights lawsuit for being forcibly removed from the presser.
BREAKING: Journalist Grant Stern tells me he’s filing a civil rights lawsuit, for being forcibly removed from Kevin McCarthy's press conference yesterday.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) August 6, 2021
The House minority leader expressed his opposition to the bipartisan commission in May, as IJR previously reported.
He said in a statement, “Given the political misdirections that have marred this process, given the now duplicative and potentially counterproductive nature of this effort, and given the Speaker’s shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation.”
McCarthy also said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “refused to negotiate in good faith” on the commission’s parameters, adding, “The presence of this political violence in American society cannot be tolerated and it cannot be overlooked. I have communicated this to our Democrat colleagues for months and its omission is deeply concerning.”
A select committee was established to investigate the events. Pelosi named her appointments to the committee last month, as IJR reported.
