'The Republican Party Has Embraced Its Role As The Party Of Insurrection': Cori Bush Bashes GOP

6 months ago

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) spoke about the state of the Republican Party.

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Transcript

00:00Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Missouri for five minutes.

00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you again, Attorney Garland, for being here.

00:09St. Louis and I are here today in support of our democratic institutions and the rule

00:14of law.

00:15Nearly four years ago, I was barricaded in my office with my staff wondering if we would

00:22be killed or at least harmed by a mob incited by Donald Trump to storm the U.S. Capitol

00:29because he could not accept the fact that he lost the 2020 presidential election.

00:34In that moment, I thought to myself, like, this has to be it.

00:38This has to be the moment in our country that people finally realize that the extremist

00:43MAGA movement is a violent cult that will destroy anything in its path, all for Donald

00:49Trump.

00:50And yet, nearly four years later, here we are again.

00:55Far from rejecting Donald Trump and his insurrection, the Republican Party has embraced its role

01:01as the party of insurrection.

01:03Republicans have defended January 6th, attacked the Department of Justice for seeking accountability,

01:10continued their assault on voting rights, and built a pro-insurrection wing of the Supreme

01:15Court.

01:16They have also overwhelmingly backed Trump, who has been convicted of 34 felony criminal

01:21charges despite his attacking the prosecutor, the judge, the jurors in the case, and even

01:28though he still refuses to say he will support the outcome of the 2024 election.

01:34So as we sit here today, our democracy is in as precarious a position as it was in 2020,

01:41if not more.

01:43Attorney General Garland, I want to thank you, but I want to talk to you about the ongoing

01:49assault on our democracy and the rule of law.

01:53How does interference by politicians in criminal trials harm our democracy and the separation

02:00of powers?

02:03Our criminal justice system proceeds on the understanding that the decisions will be made

02:09in the courtroom without political interference in any way.

02:15Fundamentally, it depends on the respect of the citizenry of the judicial processes that

02:20occur.

02:22People can disagree with results, people can challenge results, people can appeal results,

02:28but we respect the judicial process, the judges, and the juries, and the appellate justices.

02:37That's a fundamental element of our democracy.

02:44How do conspiracy theories and misinformation affect the ability of courts to conduct impartial

02:50trials?

02:51Well, that's a broader question than I can answer in specifics.

02:58I think attacks on, personal attacks on judges, personal attacks on juries, personal attacks

03:05on prosecutors and agents make people afraid to do their job according to the merits and

03:12according to the law.

03:15Thank you.

03:17I will say an obvious answer is that Republicans are not doing any of this because they care

03:24about our communities, they care about our country, or our democracy.

03:28They are doing this because they realize their agenda is absolutely unpopular and they will

03:33do anything to stay in power.

03:35The Republican Party is all about projection.

03:38Republicans talk about violent crime while inciting violent crime on January 6th.

03:43Republicans talk about the weaponization of the federal government as they themselves

03:47weaponize it on behalf of Donald Trump, including the baseless impeachment investigation in

03:52these sham committee hearings.

03:55Republicans talk about the unfairness of the criminal legal system while ignoring the actual

03:59communities, mostly black and brown, who are disproportionately targeted by that system

04:04and don't have high-powered attorneys, unlike Donald Trump, who has used his wealth, his

04:09resources, his power to shield himself from accountability his entire life.

04:15Republicans talk about big government and liberty and don't tread on me as they use

04:20government to rip away the freedoms of women, of LGBTQ plus folks, and countless others.

04:27Republicans talk about cancel culture as they champion violent crackdowns on students who

04:32dare to speak out about the humanity of Palestinians.

04:37Republicans talk about unethical judicial overreach despite the comical corruption of

04:42their extremist justices.

04:45So while Republicans focus on hypocrisy and distraction, my Democratic colleagues and

04:50I will continue asking the real questions, advancing real solutions, and advocating for

04:56our communities.

04:57So thank you again for being here, Attorney General Garland, and I yield back.

'The Republican Party Has Embraced Its Role As The Party Of Insurrection': Cori Bush Bashes GOP

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