Republicans in the House and the Senate have sought to downplay the January 6 Capitol insurrection following its one-year anniversary last week. Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego recently criticized the recent incident involving Republican Senator Ted Cruz and also took aim at the House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Speaking on MSNBC last week, Gallego weighed in on the backlash Cruz received from Fox News personality Tucker Carlson following the Texas lawmaker’s comparison of the insurrection to a terrorist attack. Cruz later apologized for describing the insurrection as such following the backlash from Carlson.
Gallego said that Cruz’s recent comments were another sign that the Republican Party revolves around twice-impeached former President Donald Trump. Gallego went on to say that Republican lawmakers can no longer criticize the violence that occurred on January 6, 2021, as they would be implying that Trump incited the insurrection and they cannot attack Trump.
When host Chris Hayes made the comparison that McCarthy was somehow similar to Cruz, Gallego agreed but said that the House Minority Leader is “not as smart” as the Texas Republican. Gallego cited that McCarthy was willing to align himself with the pro-Trump Republican faction if it meant he could become House Speaker.
“He’s the dumber version of Ted Cruz, still an empty shell of a human being, just as craven of a politician, but not as smart,” said Gallego. “He’ll do anything to become speaker of the House. He’ll align himself with QAnon crazies, Matt Gaetz — who is pretty close at some point to hopefully being indicted for being a pedophile. This is the type of person that he is, and he’ll do it because he wants that title of speaker of the House.”
McCarthy has also become a key witness regarding the Capitol insurrection. According to former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, the House Republican Leader’s attempt to pander to both sides regarding his public statements about Trump and the insurrection would make him a “marquee witness.”
Citing the clip of McCarthy saying that Trump “bears some responsibility” for the insurrection that now contrasts with his recent comments, Kirschner said that McCarthy must be subpoenaed by the House Committee to testify.