As the nation marked the second anniversary to the Jan. 6 attack, a split-screen moment played out Friday on Capitol Hill.
On the House floor, some Republican lawmakers who either supported the rioters or helped breathe life into former President Donald Trump’s “big lie” about the 2020 election are on the verge of gaining power in Washington.
Twenty hardline Republicans are opposing Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid for speaker of the House.
Of the 15 incumbents in the rebel group, 14 challenged the results of the 2020 election this fateful day two years ago. The total number of Republican congressmen who voted to overturn the elections was 139.
Of the five incoming freshmen who make up the group, Rep.-elect Eli Crane, a former Navy SEAL who trafficked in conspiracy theories about the election and called on his home state of Arizona to overturn the 2020 results, called for the state legislature to decertify the election results as recently as September 2021.
A view of the House chamber as the House meets for the third day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Jan. 5, 2023.
Alex Brandon/AP
Another Rep.-elect, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida is a fervent “Stop the Steal” warrior who once donned a red-carpet-worthy ball gown to a screening of “2000 Mules,” a debunked documentary that falsely claims to show evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
She made her stance on the 2020 election clear in an interview with MSNBC last June, stating, “I believe that President Trump won that election, and I do believe that voter fraud occurred.” And in November, she will very likely be elected to Congress.
MORE: What to know about the defectors against Kevin McCarthy
Just one member of the group, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, is not an election denier, according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight.
As of Friday morning, no deal had been reached between the Republican renegades and supporters of McCarthy, the Republican leader said on a private call with his colleagues.
