H.R. McMaster Slams The 'Illegitimate Political Discourse' Of Jan. 6 In Dig At RNC

Donald Trump’s former national security adviser H.R. McMaster on Sunday blasted the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as an “assault” on the government — flatly contradicting the whitewash of the violence by the Republican National Committee last week.

Asked on CBS’ “Face The Nation” if he believed the RNC was “in any way” accurate when it defined the Jan. 6 riot as “legitimate political discourse,” McMasters responded: “No. It was illegitimate political discourse because it was an assault on the first branch of government.”

Some 140 police officers were injured in the attack, and more than 740 people at the Capitol that day have been arrested.

McMaster also said that former Vice President Mike Pence was “absolutely” correct to say in a speech last week that Trump was “wrong” that Pence had the power to throw out the results of the 2020 election to help his former boss.

Pence added: “Frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.”

All Americans “should agree with Pence,” said McMaster, and “demand more from our political leaders — demand that they stop compromising confidence in our democratic principles and institutions and processes to score partisan, political points.”

McMaster was one of a few additional Republicans who came out of the woodwork over the weekend to support Pence — or condemn the Jan. 6 insurrection following the RNC’s attempt to rewrite history as it censured Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for serving on the House committee probing the insurrection.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on ABC’s “This Week” that he was “glad” Pence finally spoke out about Trump’s pressure to toss out the election.

“Let’s face it. Let’s call it what it is,” said the former Trump ally, referring to Jan. 6. It “was a riot that was incited by Donald Trump in an effort to intimidate Mike Pence and the Congress into doing exactly what he said in his own words last week: ‘Overturn the election.’”

Sen. John Barrasso ( R-Wyo.) said on “Fox News Sunday” that Pence “did his constitutional duty that day. It’s not the Congress that elects the president; it’s the American people.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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