Tuesday on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) called out the 21 Republican House members who voted against legislation to award Congressional Gold Medals to Capitol police officers who responded to the riots on January 6.
He declared they were “now are part of the insurrectionist mob.”
Burnett said, “What is your position to the 21 Republicans who voted against giving these officers the gold medal?”
Connolly said, “I think this is a new low for this crowd. They voted to overturn an election, but in their vote today, they kind of sealed the deal of basically affiliating with the mob. They now are part of the insurrectionist mob. They brought enormous disrepute and dishonor on themselves in not honoring the brave men and women who defended the Capitol of the United States, everybody in it, but also defending the symbol of democracy in the world, not just here in the United States. Shameful moment.
Burnett said, “Several members who voted no say they take issue with the word insurrection.”
Connolly said, “I think for most of us in the media, the public and certainly here in Congress, it was what it was, an insurrection, an armed insurrection, preplanned by a lot of the participants. So you can quibble over words, and in quibbling, over the words, you’re contributing to the denial of what, in fact, happened. I don’t want to be an enabler with respect to that. It was an insurrection. Everybody could see it on television. Those of us who were here experienced it as such. We need to call it what it is.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
