House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is responding to Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) after he compared the U.S. Capitol insurrection to a “normal tourist visit.”
Clyde said during a hearing on Wednesday, “Watching the TV footage of those who entered Capitol and walked through Statutory Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes taking videos and pictures.”
He added, “You know, if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January 6, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.” The hearing was on the preparation and response to the violence on January 6.
Calling the hearing “appalling,” Pelosi explained during her press briefing on Thursday, “Really? Really? Well, I don’t know on a normal day around here when people are threatening to hang the vice president of the United States or shoot the speaker … or disrupt and injure so many police officers.”
She noted, “Multiple people were killed, over 140 police officers were [injured], a gallows was put up and the attackers chanted ‘hang the vice president.'”
Pelosi asked, “Normal?”
Watch part of her press briefing below:
Pelosi reacts to GOP lawmakers downplaying the Capitol riot during a hearing, comparing it a "normal tourist visit"
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 13, 2021
"Multiple people were killed, over 140 police officers were injured, a gallows was put up and the attackers chanted 'hang the vice president.' Normal?" pic.twitter.com/HoJbTX4iqW
She argued, “It was beyond denial, it fell into the range of sick.”
Two reporters confronted Clyde about his remarks. One reporter pointed out five people died as a result of the violence.
He responded, “If you are honest in your statement,” adding, “Think about what you just said. You didn’t take what I said in context at all. So that’s just fake news.”
Watch his response below:
This morning @LACaldwellDC @DaniellaMicaela gave Rep Andrew Clyde a chance to explain his comments yesterday that Jan 6 looked like a “normal tourist visit.”
— Haley Talbot (@haleytalbotnbc) May 13, 2021
Take a listen—> pic.twitter.com/wf99KjRvzT
When asked for an explanation behind his remarks, Clyde replied, “You go listen to what I said, OK?”
More than 440 people have been charged for their role in the riot.
