Johnson & Rubio Called Out By Local Editorial Boards, Columnists For Enabling Jan. 6th Insurrection

Cap Times: “Expel Ron Johnson from the Senate”

Wisconsin State Journal: “Trump’s shameless minions must go”

Orlando Sentinel: “Sorry to say it, but Marco Rubio is beyond hope”

A wave of local editorials and columns in the year since the January 6th insurrection have called out vulnerable Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Ron Johnson for their “hypocrisy” and repeated efforts to “whitewash” the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol – telling voters it’s time to “give up on” these “shameless minions.”

In Wisconsin:

• USA Today Network – Wisconsin, Editorial Board: The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol illustrated the risk of political violence. Voters in Republican districts can help stop it. “After casting doubt on the election results for weeks by claiming he ‘was just asking questions,’ even as he admitted to a former Republican operative that he knew better — that Trump lost, fair and square — Sen. Johnson has continued to trample on the truth about the first attack on our Capitol since British troops invaded in the War of 1812… If, as many expect, Johnson breaks his earlier promise to Wisconsin voters to not stay in office longer than 12 years and decides to run for a third term, he should be denied reelection.”

• The Cap Times, Editorial Board: Expel Ron Johnson from the Senate. “Johnson was, and is, the steadiest proponent of the lies and conspiracy theories that animated the fascist mob that attacked the Capitol… His lies, his abuses of his position and his threats to obstruct governing in order to thwart accountability for incitement of insurrection represent a rejection of his oath of office. He has no place in the United States Senate.”

• Wisconsin State Journal, Editorial Board: Trump’s shameless minions must go. “Johnson more than anyone else from Wisconsin helped lead America to the dark day when violence and tumult stalled our democracy and threatened to send it into a ‘death spiral,’ in the words of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell… This cannot be forgiven.”

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Editorial Board: Ron Johnson’s whitewash of the U.S. Capitol riot shows why Wisconsin’s senior senator has to go. “Johnson was willing to throw out the legally cast votes of millions of Americans. He was willing to throw away democracy — government of the people, by the people, for the people — to serve Donald Trump… If he runs again, Johnson must be opposed in both the primary and general elections by people who care enough about democracy to support and defend it.”

• Wisconsin State Journal, LTEs: Readers react to Ron Johnson’s remarks about riot. “Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, told a conservative talk radio show that the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol ‘didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me.’ That struck a nerve with Wisconsin State Journal readers.”
  
  
  • Donna Silver, Madison: “Johnson enabled a dangerous lie and may accurately be called a seditionist.”
  • Joanie Ouellete, Madison: “Johnson should stop making fools of us here in Wisconsin. Please stop talking and please do not embarrass us any more by running for an office that you misrepresent.”
  • Ron Sklansky, Madison: “A conspiracy theorist and Trump enabler.”
  • Rick Burgsteiner, River Falls: “He has brought shame on Wisconsin. But of course it’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last.”
  • Susan Fiore, Verona: “I’m baffled by Sen. Ron Johnson’s comment… People died. People were injured.”
  • Gerry Bastien, Waunakee: “Johnson must stop enabling Trump.”
  • Michael Prestigiacomo, Madison: “Johnson and his colleagues also provided credence to millions of Americans who still believe Trump’s utterly false narrative that the election was ‘stolen.’ It was not.”
  • William Corse, Eau Claire: “As a former supporter of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson… I add my name to the many people who have demanded Johnson resign from the Senate immediately.”
  • Brent Odell, McFarland: “It speaks volumes about Johnson’s character that he continues to kowtow to Trump.”

In Florida:

• Orlando Sentinel, Editorial Board: Time to give up on Marco Rubio, who will never do the right thing if there’s any risk. “So Marco Rubio declared on Twitter he’s a no vote on creating a commission to get to the bottom of the Jan. 6 insurrection… We’ve been waiting a decade for Rubio to do the right thing. But the senator is Lucy with the football, and every Floridian who trusts him is Charlie Brown.”

• South Florida Sun Sentinel, Schultz: Rubio’s hypocritical dismissal of Trump’s Jan. 6 insurrection. “His hypocrisy on a Jan. 6 commission shows that whenever Rubio tries to sit at the grownups’ table of national politics, his feet don’t touch the floor.”

• Miami Herald, Editorial Board: Here’s your chance to prove you’re more than a Trump sycophant, Sen. Rubio. “It’s hard to take a principled stand when one lacks a spine, as Florida’s U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has shown us since Donald Trump’s election — most recently by declaring he’s against the creation of a bipartisan commission to look into the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attacks.”

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