McCarthy says Jan. 6 rioters did not engage in ‘legitimate discourse’

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Wednesday said the rioters who stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, were not engaging in “legitimate discourse.”

“I think anybody, we all know this, that entered this building, that rioted, is not legitimate discourse,” McCarthy said.

His comments came in response to a question regarding the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) resolution last week that formally censured Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).

The resolution criticized the GOP lawmakers for taking part in the House select committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6 riot and accused the pair of “participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

The language has sparked criticism from those on the left and right taking issue with the “legitimate political discourse” characterization.

McCarthy said Wednesday he believes the RNC’s resolution was not talking about the rioters themselves, instead suggesting the language referred to subpoenas issued to so-called alternate electors who were not in Washington the day of the attack.

“I don’t think that’s what the RNC was talking about when you talk to them,” he told NBC News.

“What they believed because if you watch what the Jan. 6 committee is doing, they subpoenaed people who weren’t here on Jan. 6, who were actually down in Florida,” McCarthy added.

Asked if he was talking about the alternate electors, McCarthy said, “Yeah.”

“They’ve gone after people and their records and that weren’t even a part of Jan. 6. That’s the portion that they [the RNC] were talking about,” he said.

The Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed 14 people in January who were involved in a scheme to submit fake Electoral College certifications that said former President Trump won the 2020 election in a number of states that in fact went for President Biden.

The 14 people subpoenaed by the committee had filed fake documents with the National Archives.

In a separate conversation with reporters on Wednesday, McCarthy said the RNC should have clarified the language in the censure resolution.

“I think had they explained out what they were talking to this wouldn’t be controversial at all because they weren’t referring to people who have broken into this building,” he said.

McCarthy’s comments came one day after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) broke with the GOP committee in saying that Jan. 6 was a “violent insurrection.”

“It was a violent insurrection with the purpose of trying to prevent a peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election,” McConnell said. “That’s what it was.” 

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel defended the censure resolution in a Tuesday op-ed for the conservative news outlet Townhall.

She also appeared to respond to the criticism of the “legitimate political discourse” characterization, writing that “Violence has no place in our political discourse, period, and those who engaged in violence on January 6th and committed crimes should be held accountable with due process by the appropriate law enforcement authorities and prosecutors.”

“As I have repeatedly stated, violence is not legitimate political discourse — whether in the U.S. Capitol or in Democrat-run cities across the country — and neither is abusing Congress’ investigatory powers for political gain,” she added.