Ron Johnson Defends Comments About Capitol Rioters

Sen. Ron Johnson writes for the Wall Street Journal:

In a recent radio interview on the Joe Pags Show, I explained why I wasn’t concerned by the Trump supporters who came to Washington on Jan. 6 to protest peacefully. Thousands of protesters—no one knows the actual number—marched to the Capitol.

Only about 800 people illegally entered the Capitol. Still fewer engaged in violent acts. I condemned those lawbreakers at the time and continue to do so. But I feel compelled to push back as Democrats and their media allies try to equate the two groups by implying that all present were “armed insurrectionists” determined to overthrow the government.

Most reporters today put advocacy above journalism. Instead of conducting interviews with conservatives, they conduct arguments. They push their political viewpoints and are willing to lie, twist, distort, omit, censor and cancel anything or anyone with an opposing view. They are oblivious to the harm they are doing. All who value liberty and free speech must push back.

Read the full op-ed. No paywall.

Leftists who want to memory hole last summer’s political violence lecture me that the 2020 protests were mostly peaceful. 570 leftist protests became riots. 25 dead. 700 officers injured. Braying about “peaceful protests” offers no comfort to those victims.https://t.co/3hzTLZLjfd

— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) March 16, 2021

This is real: Republican Ron Johnson says the Capitol attackers ‘love this country,’ but he would have felt unsafe if Black Lives Matter protesters had stormed the Capitol instead. https://t.co/siOwbBsCZk

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 13, 2021