Capitol Riots Minimized By GA Reps During House Hearings

GEORGIA — Two U.S. representatives from Georgia — one of them hoping to run the state’s future elections — dismissed the severity of violence during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol in remarks made Wednesday.

Their comments, widely quoted by everyone from Politico to late-night comedians, were made during a hearing on the riot held before the House Oversight Committee.

Congressman Jody Hice, who represents the Loganville area and is challenging Brad Raffensperger for the Republican nomination as secretary of state, used his time at the microphone to name former President Donald Trump supporters who died during the riot. Hice also cited the “natural” cause of death of Capitol policeman Brian Sicknick, who died of strokes soon after rioters sprayed him with a chemical, NPR reported.

“The narrative needs to be cleared up,” said Hice, who added that Trump’s speech before supporters marched on the Capitol was taken out of context.

Hice’s own narrative has echoed Trump’s discredited claims that he lost the presidency because of fraudulent votes. Last month, Trump endorsed Hice to replace Raffensperger, who refused to overturn the election results despite a phone call by the president pressuring him to do so.

The day after his remarks, Hice offered his perspective on the hearings in his weekly emailed newsletter: “Democrats have used the awful events of Jan. 6 to ostracize millions of Americans simply for being Republicans or supporting former President Trump.”

“Let me be clear: There was no insurrection.”

U.S. Rep. Andy Clyde of Athens, also a Republican, offered yet another narrative during the hearings, claiming that the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 wasn’t an insurrection at all.

“Let me be clear: There was no insurrection,” Clyde said, in widely reported remarks. “And to call it an insurrection, in my opinion, is a bald-faced lie. Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes taking videos and pictures. You know, if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from Jan. 6, you’d actually think it was a normal tourist visit.”

Even Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, also a Republican, took issue with Clyde’s comments. “Hard to believe any elected official could be this oblivious to reality,” Duncan tweeted. He also posted a video showing Clyde speaking next to video of the Jan. 6 riot.

Hard to believe any elected official could be this oblivious to reality. It’s this type of blind ignorance that got our party into this mess to start with. https://t.co/YcMvpT4oCt
— Geoff Duncan (@GeoffDuncanGA) May 13, 2021

Late-night comedians also had a field day with Clyde’s comments, with ABC's Jimmy Kimmel declaring him “an elected official who doesn’t know the difference between terrorism and tourism.”

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