Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Fl.) branded House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (R-S.C.) an “insurrectionist” after Clyburn expressed concern that the lack of comprehensive voting rights legislation will ultimately place the results of next election in doubt.
Insurrectionist! https://t.co/gfSnc8M7gv
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) January 20, 2022
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Clyburn’s remarks came after the Senate failed to approve two voting rights bills after Senators Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) joined Republicans in blocking the legislation, denying Democrats the majority they need to effectively pass the measures. Both Manchin and Sinema had cited their opposition to amending the Senate’s filibuster rule as to why they were voting against the measures despite heated criticism from their colleagues and American citizens nationwide.
Asked whether he is “oncerned that without these voting rights bills the election results won’t be legitimate,” Clyburn said he is “absolutely” concerned that that will be the case.
.@WhipClyburn today on @NewDay @CNN
Kasie: "You concerned that without these voting rights bills the election results won’t be legitimate?â€
Clyburn: “I’m absolutely concerned about that." pic.twitter.com/f5Me2SfRZF
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) January 20, 2022
The irony in Gaetz’s remarks is that he voted against the certification of President Joe Biden’s win even after the United States Capitol was attacked by a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters who’d been spurred by his claims that the election was stolen.
Gaetz has since found himself in the crosshairs of the investigation conducted by the House Select Committee tasked with investigating the circumstances behind the attack and has backed actual insurrectionists more than once.
Earlier this month, on the first anniversary of the attack, Gaetz claimed that the Trump supporters who went to the Capitol that day were “patriotic.”
We’re ashamed of nothing,” Gaetz said during an appearance on former President Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon’s podcast, on which he appeared alongside frequent ally Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
“We’re proud of the work we did on January 6 to make legitimate arguments about election integrity,” he said at the time, adding: “So we’re going to make those arguments today … and we’re actually going to go walk the grounds that patriotic Americans walked from the White House to the Capitol, who had no intent of breaking the law or doing violence.”
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
