Ron Johnson Says House GOP 1/6 Commission Supporters Feared Being Media 'Roadkill'
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) suggested on Friday that the Republican members of the House who voted in favor of a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol riot feared becoming "media roadkill" if they opposed it.
Johnson told Fox News's Tucker Carlson that the 35 GOP members who sided with Democrats on the bill to create a commission on the events of January 6 were influenced by media pressure.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 252 to 175 this week and now heads to the Senate where Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he opposes the measure. Ten Republicans will have to join Democrats in order to pass the bill.
"What this is all about is they're probably figuring out they can't impeach Donald Trump for a third time," Johnson told Carlson.
"So this is the only way they can keep their false narrative that they were thousands of armed insurrectionists that stormed the capital intent on overthrowing this government.
"And then by extension, they can paint with a very broad brush that the 75 million Americans that voted for Donald Trump are also potentially domestic terrorists and would be armed insurrectionists themselves if the FBI doesn't intervene soon enough. So this is all about a narrative that paints Donald Trump's supporters as threats to this nation."
Former President Donald Trump won 74,216,154 votes in the 2020 presidential election compared to President Joe Biden's 81,268,924, according to the FEC.
Carlson asked Johnson why 35 House Republicans had voted in favor of the commission.
"I suppose some of them take a look at what the media's done to me for pushing back," Johnson said. "They pretty well take a look at me as roadkill and say, 'Ooh, don't want any of that.' So there's an enormous amount of media pressure."
Johnson went on to condemn the violence that had occurred on January 6 but expressed concerns about how the investigation is being handled.
"I am not happy with those protesters, the people that committed acts of violence. I want them prosecuted," Johnson said. "But there were more than twenty thousand protesters there. The FBI has arrested about four hundred and forty. One hundred twenty-five have been charged with assaulting or resisting or impeding law enforcement or other officials.
"The rest are basically charged with entering and remaining in restricted buildings or on restricted grounds. Now, maybe another 100 might be arrested. I'm highly concerned about the unequal administration of justice."
On Wednesday, Johnson told Fox News that the events of January 6 were "by and large" a peaceful protest.
"The fact of the matter is even calling it insurrection, it wasn't. I condemned the breach, I condemn the violence, but to say there were thousands of armed insurrectionists breaching the Capitol intent on overthrowing the government is just simply a false narrative," Johnson said.
Newsweek has asked Senator Ron Johnson for comment.
