Dem Rep. Jayapal: ‘Diminishing’ January 6 ‘Is Its Own Form of Violence’

Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said Thursday on CNN’s “Situation Room” that downplaying what happened during the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 was “its own form of violence.”

Jayapal said, “I think what the president did today was very important because we cannot ever forget how fragile our democracy is, how close we were to losing it and how critically important it is right now in this moment that we protect it.”

Wolf Blitzer said, “You say that the danger is still clear, that it is still present. Are things better or worse today than they were one year ago on January 6?”

Jayapal said, “Well, obviously we’re not in the middle of an insurrection today, but the reality of the former president continuing to be out there promoting the big lie and the entire Republican Party except for just a few courageous people — I saw Liz Cheney on the floor, and I hugged her and thanked her. Because there are very few Republicans who are willing to even say that January 6 happened, that it was real and that we need to get to the bottom of it — in that sense, it is terrible because had you had a situation where January 6 happened, and then the entire country came together and said we need to get to the bottom of this. We’ll never let this happen again. That is one situation, Wolf. What we have today is really only two members of Congress in the House, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who are willing to say it. And by denying or diminishing what happened on January 6, that is its own form of violence.”

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