Ron Johnson Facing New Backlash For “Racist” And “Unacceptable” Comments

In Latest Attempt to Downplay Deadly Mob Attack On U.S. Capitol, Johnson Says Insurrectionists “Loved This Country” But Black Protesters Would Have Been Cause For Concern

Senator Ron Johnson, the Republican conference’s preeminent “collector of crackpot theories and conspiracies,” is facing backlash once again for spreading lies and downplaying the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol. In a recent interview on conservative talk radio, Johnson “let his racist flag fly high” and said that “he was unafraid of the insurrectionists on January 6 because they were not members of Black Lives Matter or antifa.” The remarks were quickly deemed ‘racist’ and ‘unacceptable’ and have sparked outrage and new calls for his resignation.

Johnson’s comments are dismissive of an attack that attempted to overthrow the results of the 2020 election and “left several dead, including a police officer, and more than 100 other officers injured.” Despite Johnson’s claims that he “saw only law-abiding citizens,” over 40 rioters have since been charged with assaulting law enforcement officers who were “harassed, beaten and sprayed with gas substances by members of the mob.” 

This isn’t the first time the GOP’s most vulnerable incumbent has earned well-deserved criticism for spreading false conspiracies about the insurrection. Johnson has repeatedly downplayed the deadly attack and made the demonstrably false suggestion that House Democrats only impeached Trump as a “diversionary operation” from scrutiny of their actions around the riot. He has also directly contradicted himself by claiming that it was actually “left-wing ‘provocateurs’ and ‘fake’ Trump supporters” who stormed the Capitol.

Read more about Senator Ron Johnson’s unacceptable comments:

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson says Capitol attackers ‘love this country’ but he would have felt unsafe if Black Lives Matter stormed building instead
• Washington Post: GOP Sen. Johnson says Capitol rioters didn’t scare him — but might have had they been Black Lives Matter protesters
• Associated Press: Critics call Sen. Ron Johnson’s insurrection comments racist
• CNN: Ron Johnson says he might have been concerned for safety had Capitol rioters been BLM and Antifa
• POLITICO: Ron Johnson says he didn’t feel threatened Jan. 6. If BLM or Antifa stormed Capitol, he ‘might have.’
• ABC News: GOP Sen. Ron Johnson says he didn’t feel ‘threatened’ by Capitol marchers but may have if BLM or antifa were involved
• The Hill: Ron Johnson faces criticism over ‘racist’ remarks about Capitol riot
• WIZM (Opinion): Sen. Johnson’s views move from fringe to extreme
• The Daily Beast: Sen. Johnson Says He ‘Wasn’t Concerned’ by Capitol Rioters Since They Weren’t BLM Protesters
• Rolling Stone: GOP Senator Proudly Voices Racism: If Trump’s Mob Were BLM Then I’d Be Concerned
• Newsweek: Sen. Ron Johnson Says He Didn’t Worry During Capitol Riot, but Would Have if Rioters Were BLM
• New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner: “The whole audio… is even worse. He talks about how the people who stormed the Capitol respect the law, and then prefaces the remarks below by saying he knows he will get in trouble for making them.”
• MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan: “I think with these latest remarks, Sen. Ron Johnson reveals himself to be the senator with the most despicable and shocking response to the Jan. 6th attack – even Cruz and Hawley come nowhere close to this. Sick stuff”
• CNN’s Pamela Brown: “As authorities get a clearer picture of who was behind the Capitol riot, Republican Senator Ron Johnson––again––tried to deflect attention from those responsible…For the record, these people who ‘truly respect law enforcement’ killed one officer and injured at least 138 others, making them responsible for one of the most dangerous days for law enforcement since 9/11.”
• WISN Milwaukee: “Growing criticism tonight targeting Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson after new comments he made about the January 6 Capitol attack”

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