On Tuesday, the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Riots held its first hearing, where Capitol and D.C. Metro police officers delivered harrowing testimony on their experiences defending the Capitol from a mob of pro-Trump extremists.
The officers described being overtaken by the mob, with rioters forcibly taking their weapons, beating them, and inundating them with racial slurs and shouts of "Traitors!"
The officers blamed former President Donald Trump for sparking the calamity that day—the culmination of his months-long smear campaign against the validity of the 2020 election.
They also described the continued physical and mental toll the terror of the riots has imposed on Capitol and D.C. police officers at the Capitol that day, who described brain injuries, lacerations, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The conservative Fox News network, which currently faces multiple lawsuits for amplifying the same lies that led Trump supporters to storm the Capitol, was predictably indignant at the testimony.
Right-wing Fox host Tammy Bruce had a stunning characterization for the hearing.
Watch below.
Tammy Bruce of Fox News characterizes Capitol and DC officers testifying today about getting physically assaulted and having racial abuse heaped upon them on January 6 as "an assault on 75 million" Trump voterspic.twitter.com/LrKIoKDHTc— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1627427905
Bruce said in an interview with Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana:
"Clearly today was an assault on 75 million Americans, I think it was meant to be."
Bruce went on to absurdly claim that Trump's supporters make up half of the American population, and that an investigation into the Capitol Riots is somehow anti-democratic.
People weren't buying Bruce's partisan delusions.
The most fickle, weak and brittle spirits. They're always the victim. When will we stop coddling white rage?https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1420161683914469380\u00a0\u2026— Wajahat Ali (@Wajahat Ali) 1627427995
If @heytammybruce wants to insist that every single Trump voter supported the assault on the Capitol, I guess that\u2019s her right.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1420161683914469380\u00a0\u2026— Kevin M. Kruse (@Kevin M. Kruse) 1627429885
It\u2019s all just an authoritarian propaganda show, if you watched it in a movie you\u2019d think it was laughable dystopian sci-fi. Nobody involved believes a word of it, and it\u2019s why we still have a pandemic in America despite ubiquitous access to free vaccines.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1420161683914469380\u00a0\u2026— Jesse Lee (@Jesse Lee) 1627439692
Imagine seeing those officers testifying today...and having this mindset after...https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1420161683914469380\u00a0\u2026— David Johnson (@David Johnson) 1627428171
The insurrection was an assault on 81 million Biden voters.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1420161683914469380\u00a0\u2026— Roger Strassburg (@Roger Strassburg) 1627430807
You see, we are supposed to be quiet while the insurrectionists fight, and thank them for not fighting more.\n\n\u201cSee what you made me do\u201d is the gop mantra and standing up to the actions is what they consider bullying.\n\nNope.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1420161683914469380\u00a0\u2026— Sandy Hilton (@Sandy Hilton) 1627428178
They were exhausted by the mental gymnastics.
Spun like a true believer\u2026https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1420161683914469380\u00a0\u2026— StuporDave (@StuporDave) 1627434051
If there were an Olympic competition for mental gymnastics...https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1420161683914469380\u00a0\u2026— Sean O'Neill (@Sean O'Neill) 1627429259
If there were an Olympic competition for mental gymnastics...https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1420161683914469380\u00a0\u2026— Sean O'Neill (@Sean O'Neill) 1627429259
Bruce hasn't addressed the controversy.
