Video montage shows Republican politicians calling Jan 6 insurrectionists ‘tourists’ and ‘patriots’

After former President Donald Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill on January 6 due to claims of a “stolen election,” many Republican members of the House of Representatives publicly dismissed the threat.

On Wednesday, the Republican representatives called the insurrectionists “peaceful patriots” in a House Oversight Committee hearing.

They further downplayed the attacks on the Capitol Police by comparing it to regular tourists’ normal conduct when they visit the Capitol Building.

As a result, MSNBC’s Morning Joe producers expertly put a montage together of all the comments downplaying the riots.

Check out the full video here.

MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski set the stage for the montage by stating, “people are going to jail for the crimes they committed that day,” and several members of the Trump wing of the Republican party offer blatantly false accounts of what happened that day.”

Republican Congressmen Jody Hice, Pat Fallon, Paul Gosar, and Andrew Clyde all dismissed the actions of the insurrectionists who left Trump’s rally to go to the Capitol and disrupt essential meetings.

It was Trump supporters who lost their lives that day. Not Trump supporters who were taking the lives,” begins Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), who is part of the Georgia Oversite Committee.

Rep.Gosar(R-Ariz.) wants answers, mentioning that he feels the reality is “censored and covered up.”

He also believes that the DOJ is “harassing peaceful patriots across the country.”

Rep. Fallon( R-TX) wants to change the terminology used to describe what happened in January.

“Was January 6 and Insurrection? or could it be accurately described as a mob of Misfits,” Rep. Fallon said.

Similar to Rep. Fallon’s comment, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) believes there was no insurrection.

“There as no insurrection. And to call it an insurrection, in my opinion, is a bold-faced lie,” Rep. Clyde begins.

Then in a moment that encapsulates the unfortunate rifts in perspectives on this event and many other heinous things that have happened within the United States, Rep. Clyde said he believes the insurrectionists were conducting themselves properly at the Capitol Building.

“Watching the TV footage of those who entered the capitol ... showed people in an orderly fashion, taking videos and pictures,” Rep. Clyde continued.

Afterward, the camera cuts back to Brzezinski, as she says ‘CNN aired new bodycam footage that shows the moments other insurrectionists attacked Capitol Police officers’.

The clips within the montage are hard to watch, as you can hear officer Michael Fanone screaming out for help and that he has children as he was attacked.

Without the video, Wednesday’s hearing would have remained a little under the radar.

There was a Republican leadership debacle surrounding Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) being ousted from leadership for not supporting Trump’s rhetoric. MarketWatch reports that Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is favored to replace Rep. Cheney and also received an endorsement from Trump.