The QAnon Caucus

By Congressman Adam Schiff

Republicans are trying to rewrite history. Instead of apologizing for supporting Trump’s many lies and conspiracy theories and their vote to overturn the election even after the violent insurrection at the Capitol — the GOP have doubled down.

When pressed on why he supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results in Congress, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy simply lied, “You’re saying something that is not true.”

Let’s be perfectly clear: Kevin McCarthy and the vast majority of House Republicans voted to overturn the election — not just once, but twice.

Not to be outdone, Republican Senator Ron Johnson from Wisconsin has engaged in even worse revisionist history, saying that there wasn’t violence in the Senate, and if it had been “tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and antifa protesters, I might have been a little concerned.”

Instead of apologizing for this racist and false claim, Senator Johnson somehow made it worse, saying he didn’t “know any Trump supporter who would have done what the rioters did.”

But once again the biggest lie goes to Donald Trump, who just made the astounding claim that the January 6th rioters were “hugging and kissing” police that day at the Capitol. It’s just shameful, bizarre and completely divorced from reality.

It’s not just them. Trump, McCarthy and Johnson are far from alone. Dozens of Republicans in the QAnon Caucus like Marjorie Taylor Greene have made similar comments that fly in the face of reality. And we know why.

Instead of being a party of ideas and policy, the Republican Party has turned into a cult of personality around Donald J. Trump. When he lies, they lie. When he bullies, they bully. When he proposes bigoted policy, they follow suit. And so on, and so on, and so on. It’s exhausting.

But here’s why this matters:

After four years of Donald Trump, our democracy was hanging on by a thread. And Republicans — who debased themselves the entire time he was in office — had an opportunity to turn the page and move away from Trumpism once and for all.

But instead they have chosen to continue to embrace not only the former President, but also his hateful policies and his lies. And do everything in their power to sabotage President Biden in the first days of his new Administration, all in their quest to take back power.

We simply can’t let Republicans regain control of the House or Senate in 2022. And the work to hold onto and protect our incredibly slim Blue Majorities has already begun.