GOP lawmaker calls Jan. 6 a ‘protest,’ says domestic terror label ‘insulting’

Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) on Thursday said it is “insulting” to describe the Jan. 6., 2021, attack on the Capitol as a “domestic terrorist attack,” instead opting to label the deadly riot a “protest.”

“I think that’s insulting, it was a protest,” Mooney maintained during an interview with MetroNews’ “Talkline” when asked why he didn’t support a bill last year to establish an independent commission to investigate the attack.

The text of the bill, which passed the House in May 2021 but was blocked in the Senate, referred to the riot as the “domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol.” House Democrats later established a select committee to probe the riot.

“It was a protest, that’s what it was. A few people went in and law should be implemented for those who broke it,” Mooney said Thursday, adding “I do not think it was a domestic terrorist attack.”

Mooney’s remarks came in a joint MetroNews interview with Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.), with the pair locked in a fierce primary battle for a new House district in the Mountain State. West Virginians will head to the polls on May 10 to vote in the primary.

McKinley, one of 35 Republicans who voted to establish a commission to investigate the Capitol riot, said lawmakers who backed the bill wanted to probe the events of Jan. 6.

“Not all the people there, they were not domestic terrorists. I don’t care what [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)] wanted to put in that description,” he added.

Mooney and McKinley are facing off in the primary after redistricting put them in the same district. West Virginia’s House delegation decreased from three lawmakers to two following the 2020 census, pitting the two representatives against one another for a seat that includes areas from both of their current districts.

Former President Trump endorsed Mooney in November, lauding the four-term congressman for his vote against the Jan. 6 commission. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has backed McKinley and appeared in a campaign ad for the West Virginia Republican released last week.

Asked if the ad was an indication that Manchin had endorsed McKinley, the senator’s spokesperson Sam Runyon told The Hill that “the ad speaks for itself.”

The two West Virginia Republicans on Thursday also weighed in on whether they’d support House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for Speaker if the Republicans secure control of the lower chamber in November.

McKinley said he would support McCarthy for Speaker, while Mooney said “probably,” adding that it “depends on who else is running.”

McCarthy has faced scrutiny in recent weeks after The New York Times published audio recordings from a meeting with House GOP leaders in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack that featured the minority leader airing concerns about his Republican colleagues and saying he would tell then-President Trump to resign.

The House GOP conference, however, does not appear to be deterred — members gave McCarthy a standing ovation at a conference meeting days after the tapes mentioning Trump were released.