Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) is speaking out against a commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and suggests the events were “peaceful protests.”
“The fact of the matter is even calling it insurrection, it wasn’t. I condemned the breach, I condemn the violence, but to say there were thousands of armed insurrectionists breaching the Capitol intent on overthrowing the government is just simply a false narrative,” Johnson said during Wednesday’s appearance on Fox News.
The Republican lawmaker claimed he was “vilified for entering into the record a 14-page eyewitness account of a very knowledgeable observer that really laid out exactly what happened.”
Johnson continued, “By and large it was peaceful protests except for there were a number of people, basically agitators that whipped the crowd and breached the Capitol, and that’s really the truth of what’s happening here.”
Watch his comments below:
Ron Johnson claims it wasn’t an insurrection and goes on to say by and large it was a peaceful protest pic.twitter.com/E9TVzhNPTS
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 20, 2021
He also said, “They like to paint that narrative so they can paint a broad brush and basically impugn 75 million Americans, call them potentially domestic terrorists and potential armed insurrectionists as well.”
In March, Johnson defended raising claims that “provocateurs” and “fake Trump protesters” planned the events on January 6, as IJR reported.
The legislation to establish the commission passed in the House with a 252-175 vote. Chances of the legislation passing in the Senate appear slim after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) expressed his opposition to the bill on Wednesday.
He called the proposal “slanted and unbalanced.”
Former President Donald Trump mentioned McConnell in his statement voicing his disagreement with a commission, as IJR reported.
“Republicans in the House and Senate should not approve the Democrat trap of the January 6 Commission. It is just more partisan unfairness and unless the murders, riots, and fire bombings in Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle, Chicago, and New York are also going to be studied, this discussion should be ended immediately,” Trump wrote.
He added, “Republicans must get much tougher and much smarter, and stop being used by the Radical Left. Hopefully, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are listening!”