Jayapal: ‘Terrifying’ GOP Won’t Tell Trump He Cannot Be the Leader of Their Party

Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) Sunday on MSNBC’s “Alex Witt Reports” that it was “terrifying” that Republicans are not saying to former President Donald Trump he could not be the leader of the GOP.

Jayapal said, “I think it’s outrageous there are still members of the Republican Party that are saying that the election, you know, could have been stolen, not admitting that Joe Biden is the president, and not agreeing that anything even happened on January 6. So the idea of criminal prosecution if these individuals don’t come and testify, I think, is absolutely right on. It’s what we need to do, and it’s the only way that America is going to find out what happened and get accountability for it and protect our democracy.”

When asked about Trump supporters saying they believe the January 6 riot at the Capitol was a setup, Jayapal said, “It is so difficult to listen to that because, of course, I was there on January 6. I was in the gallery. I was trapped in the gallery as insurrectionists were pounding on the door, trying to find us to kill us, trying to find Mike Pence to kill him. And Nancy Pelosi. It’s stunning to me that people think that this didn’t happen, that it was a setup, that it was a deep fake conspiracy theory thing.”

She added, “I don’t even know how to describe the disconnect between the facts and sort of how people are thinking about it. I blame Donald Trump, of course, but I also blame the Republicans right now in Congress who know much better, who were running for their lives, protected by Capitol police on January 6 and yet now, refuse to actually say that it happened or to say to Donald Trump, you cannot be the leader of our party anymore. This is a moment of crisis for our country and our democracy. It is also a moment of real reckoning for the Republican Party. Who are they going to be? Just Donald Trump’s party or the party of the big lie or actually standing up, perhaps for different policy ideals, but ultimately standing up for democracy. I think that’s frankly a terrifying thought to me.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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