GOP lawmakers downplay Capitol riot at House hearing

Driving the news: The hearing comes shortly after House Republicans voted to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from leadership over her criticism of former President Trump’s actions leading up to and on Jan. 6.

What they’re saying:

Rep. Ralph Norman (S.C.): “I don’t know who did the poll to say that they were Trump supporters.”

Rep. Jody Hice (Ga.): “It was Trump supporters who lost their lives that day, not Trump supporters who were taking the lives of others.”

Rep. Paul Gosar (Ariz.): “Do you recall the name of the young lady, a veteran wrapped in an American flag, who was killed in the U.S. Capitol?” Gosar asked former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen. “As the death certificate says, it was a homicide. Who executed Ashli Babbitt?” Gosar added.

  • Gosar was referring to Babbitt, an Air Force veteran who was shot in the left shoulder by an officer after she tried to climb through a broken window on a door into the Speaker’s Lobby — located just off the House chamber floor.

https://www.axios.com/capitol-riot-gop-house-hearing-02499570-1dab-4dd8-82f0-18f2eccfb16f.html