Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is shredding the Republican National Committee (RNC) over its decision to censure Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.)
During a press conference on Tuesday, Jeffries, the chair of the Democratic Caucus, said, “The ‘C’ in RNC doesn’t stand for committee, it stands for cult.”
“It’s not the Republican National Committee. It’s the Republican National Cult. That is the only way you can explain how the Grand Old Party would come to the conclusion that people who engaged in rampant mob violence…police officers lost their lives as a result of the events of Jan. 6, and the cult says it’s ‘legitimate political discourse,'” he continued.
Finally, Jeffries said, “They’ve come to that decision because they continue to bend the knee [to the] twice impeached, so-called President Donald Trump.”
Watch the video below:
“The ‘C’ in RNC doesn’t stand for committee, it stands for cult.”
— The Recount (@therecount) February 8, 2022
— House Dem. Chair Hakeem Jeffries (NY) on the RNC calling January 6th “legitimate political discourse” pic.twitter.com/W1Yez50NTF
Jeffries’ comments come days after the RNC voted to censure Kinzinger and Cheney over their participation in the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The resolution accused the two lawmakers of participating in a “Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”
While Jeffries appeared to link that phrase to the violence that took place during the riot, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) pushed back on Tuesday as he claimed that phrase referred to a subpoena of RNC committee members who were in Florida on the day the riot took place.
The decision to censure Cheney and Kinzinger has been met with disapproval from some Republican lawmakers.
Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) tweeted their disapproval of the censure resolution.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) also weighed in as he noted that the resolution said the RNC wants Republicans to be unified but, he added, “That was not a unifying action.” Meanwhile, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said Republicans have “issues that we should be focusing on besides censuring two members of Congress because they have a different opinion.”
