The gap between US Republicans after the party committee described the assault on Capitol Hill as “legitimate political speech” has widened. Its leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, joined other fellow caucuses to condemn the position of the Republican National Committee (RNC). “We all saw it, it was a violent insurrection,” said the senator, who also charged against the committee’s unprecedented decision to censure congressmen Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for participating in the congressional commission investigating what happened on January 6 of 2021.

McConnell claimed that the attack by supporters of Donald Trump was “for the purpose of preventing the peaceful transfer of power following a legitimately certified election from one Administration to the next.” The mob that stormed the Capitol did so incited by Trump’s speech on alleged electoral fraud. McConnell’s statements shake the board. He is the highest-ranking party member to speak out against the RNC’s position and the Trump narrative. In the second political trial (impeachment) to Trump for his responsibility in the assault, the Kentucky senator voted that he was not guilty.

The RNC resolution adopted last Friday at its winter meeting in Salt Lake City (Utah) was not publicly debated, but was approved by the vast majority of party members. The phrase “legitimate political speech” did not appear in the original draft of the text written by Trump adviser David Bossie, according to a copy obtained by Washington Post. It has not yet transpired who and when decided to include it.

In the letter, they denounce that the investigation of the congressional committee promoted by the president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is “a persecution led by the Democrats against ordinary citizens.” The assault on the Capitol left five dead and more than 150 wounded. About 750 protesters have been charged.

The Republican leaders, who have spent months trying to shake off the January 6 attack, are concerned that the internal conflict will harm them ahead of the legislative elections in November, where both Houses are at stake. Republican Senator Susan Collins, who called the RNC’s defense of the insurgents “absurd,” said: “Every moment spent litigating a lost election or defending those who have been convicted of criminal conduct takes us further from the goal of victory.” this autumn”.

The censure against Cheney and Kinzinger, the only two Republicans on the congressional investigative committee into the assault, marked the first time in history that the GOP had reprimanded one of its active members of Congress. RNC member Bill Palatucci said Tuesday that he plans to pressure the committee to repeal the punishment – more symbolic than practical – against Cheney and Kinzinger. “At a minimum, they should remove the phrase ‘legitimate political speech’ from the resolution. But they should repeal everything,” said the lawyer, who worked on the Trump campaign.

Subscribe here to newsletter of EL PAÍS America and receive all the informative keys of the current affairs of the region