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January 14, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — In their zeal to convince the public that Donald Trump and his allies attempted an “insurrection” against America’s system of government, many on the political Left rushed to misrepresent floor remarks from Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) as encouraging violence when in fact he was noting Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hypocrisy on the subject.
Scores of protesters broke into the U.S. Capitol building last week, following the “March to Save America” rally where the president said supporters would march “over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” where “we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen-and-women” who were meeting to formally object to the certification of electoral votes from a handful of states.
As covered live by LifeSiteNews, viral videos showed groups of protesters engaging in physical altercations with police, pushing against security barricades, breaking through a window, trespassing in congressional offices, and climbing on walls, causing the vote certification to be suspended and lawmakers to be evacuated from the chambers. While many were allowed to enter by police and simply walked through the building (which is normally open to the public) after the initial breach, there were several deaths, including a protester shot by Capitol Hill police, a protestor trampled amid the chaos, a police officer whose death is being investigated as a potential murder, and several due to unspecified “medical emergencies.”
Trump told the breachers to “go home in peace” via tweets and video message, yet a coalition of Democrats and establishment Republicans quickly decided that Trump had “incited” the violence, some by blaming his support of marching to the building (which was a pre-planned part of the event, advertised prior to Trump’s remarks), others by blaming Trump’s refusal to concede in the first place.
During House proceedings to impeach Trump Wednesday, supposedly for “incitement of insurrection” (of which the chamber voted 232-197 in favor, with ten Republicans joining Democrats), Gohmert delivered floor remarks where he accused impeachment supporters of hypocrisy by noting Pelosi’s June 2018 statement, “I just don’t even know why there aren’t uprisings all over the country” over the Trump administration’s temporary separation of minors at the southern border from the illegal immigrants who brought them into the country:
Louie Gohmert calls for more violent uprisings claims Nancy Pelosi is destroying the American experiment and quotes the History Channel in about two minutes. pic.twitter.com/P53LO2cSRF
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) January 13, 2021
“On our side, we didn’t take those to be impeachable because we didn’t believe she surely meant that,” Gohmert said. “But by the Democrats taking this action, you’re telling me ‘no, when we say those things, we actually mean to incite violence.’”
Numerous left-wing observers and media outlets quickly misrepresented the speech as Gohmert advocating more uprisings himself, even as some of those denunciations included the full video showing his actual words (as is the case with the PoliticsUSA tweet above):
Holy shit. Is Gohmer encouraging MORE “uprisings”??!? Did I hear that right??????????
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) January 13, 2021
“I don't know why there aren't uprisings all over the country. Maybe there will be,” Louie Gohmert says, perhaps hopefully.
— Marty Schladen (@martyschladen) January 13, 2021
Louie Gohmert literally asked for Trump supporters to commit violence on live TV prior to the insurrection. Why is he even there???
— Jason Appelbaum (@JasonAppelbaum1) January 13, 2021
Louie Gohmert on the House floor: “I just don't even know why there aren't more — aren't uprisings all over the country, and maybe there will be.”
— Laura McGann (@lkmcgann) January 13, 2021
Gohmert considers attempting a coup free speech, and he is inviting more violence to occur at the Capitol.
Rep. Louie Gohmert Calls For More Violent Uprisings On The House Floor https://t.co/l39WR2MBPP via @politicususa
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) January 13, 2021
The story follows Vice President Mike Pence using utterances from Pelosi against her current political aims when he explained his opposition to invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump in part by citing her own prior acknowledgment that the amendment is meant to remove a president not “on the basis of a comment or behavior that we don’t like, but based on a medical decision,” and that using it as a “means of punishment” would “set a terrible precedent.”
With the 25th Amendment option effectively quashed yet impeachment clearing the House, all eyes turn to the Senate to see how many Republicans will ultimately join Democrats in pushing to convict.
Senate Majority (soon to be Minority) Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he will not reconvene the Senate before January 19 for an impeachment trial, meaning that any such trial under the incoming Democrat majority would occur after Trump is out of office, and would be strictly about disqualifying him from a potential 2024 candidacy. Some have already expressed dismay that a Senate impeachment trial may derail the Biden administration’s own priorities during its first 100 days.