After a mob of pro-Trump extremists stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, motivated by Trump's lies about the 2020 election, a number of lawmakers proposed a bipartisan commission to investigate the conditions that allowed the deadly failed insurrection to occur.
On Wednesday, all House Democrats voted to pass legislation to establish the commission, with 35 House Republicans joining them. Despite massive concessions from Democrats offering an equal number of Republicans on the commission and granting them subpoena power, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) came out in opposition of the bill, as did Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), signaling an uphill battle for its passage in the Senate.
A significant number of Republican lawmakers have dismissed the severity of the failed insurrection and, subsequently, the need for a commission establishing it. Congressman Andrew Clyde of Georgia absurdly claimed the pictures from that day looked like a "normal tourist visit." Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin promoted conspiracy theories that antifa actually sparked the violence.
In a fiery speech, Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio excoriated Republicans for refusing to acknowledge the reality of the insurrection and their continued bulwark against bipartisan solutions to America's most pressing issues.
Watch below.
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) to Republicans: "We need two political parties in this country that are both living in reality and you ain't one of them!"pic.twitter.com/6J1WvmxJ7c— CSPAN (@CSPAN) 1621461151
After noting the years-long investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (which turned up no criminal wrongdoing), Ryan bellowed:
"We have people scaling the Capitol, hitting the Capitol Police with lead pipes across the head and we can't get bipartisanship? What else has to happen in this country? Cops! This is a slap in the face to every rank-and-file cop in the United States. If we're gonna take on China, if we're gonna rebuild the country, if we're gonna reverse climate change, we need two political parties in this country that are both living in reality and you ain't one of them!"
People shared his exasperation.
My good friend @TimRyan said it all. #Jan6thCommissionNowhttps://twitter.com/acyn/status/1395130470615031809\u00a0\u2026— Jaime Harrison, DNC Chair (@Jaime Harrison, DNC Chair) 1621467823
Go get em. @TimRyanpic.twitter.com/pQQUaCoy3x— Molly Jong-Fast (@Molly Jong-Fast) 1621460389
I am Tim Ryan\u2019s raging rage duct.pic.twitter.com/9YZ3hsZ1R0— Scottacular (@Scottacular) 1621460940
Okay yeah. This is good.pic.twitter.com/JlNXU7NKkR— Jennifer Cohn \u270d\ud83c\udffb \ud83d\udce2 (@Jennifer Cohn \u270d\ud83c\udffb \ud83d\udce2) 1621467699
These types of moments are LONG OVERDUE!!!pic.twitter.com/3MLi9mgG3M— Corey\ud83e\udd2cReynolds (@Corey\ud83e\udd2cReynolds) 1621460440
This is the way every democrat should be reacting.\n\nThank you @RepTimRyan \n\nWatch this!pic.twitter.com/wcQybpuI8G— TheSadTruth\ud83d\udc99 (@TheSadTruth\ud83d\udc99) 1621474208
Some used the moment to promote Ryan's current run for one of Ohio's Senate seats.
.@TimRyan will be an incredible US Senator for Ohio. #ohsenhttps://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1395130470615031809\u00a0\u2026— Reed Galen (@Reed Galen) 1621463575
He needs to win his Senate Race!\n\nDamn\u2026he fired me up? Who else is fired up?pic.twitter.com/mPS1gaL7kG— Andrew (@Andrew) 1621468939
He needs to win his Senate Race!\n\nDamn\u2026he fired me up? Who else is fired up?pic.twitter.com/mPS1gaL7kG— Andrew (@Andrew) 1621468939
The bill establishing the January 6 commission now heads to the Senate.
