Kevin McCarthy Trashed On Twitter For 'O.J. Simpson' Approach To Jan. 6 Probe
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was called out on Monday for the five Republican lawmakers he tapped to sit on the select committee that will investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that was carried out by pro-Trump insurrectionists.
All five of the picks ― Reps. Jim Banks (Ind.) Jim Jordan (Ohio), Rodney Davis (Ill.), Kelly Armstrong (N.D.) and Troy Nehls (Texas) ― are, like McCarthy, allies of former President Donald Trump. Three of the five ― Banks, Jordan and Nehls ― voted against certifying the 2020 Electoral College votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania.
None voted to impeach Trump for his role in inciting the violence.
Jordan could even be called as a witness due to his links to Trump. During the attack itself, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) reportedly yelled at Jordan: “You fucking did this.”
Cheney will also serve on the 13-member committee, having been previously selected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will have final approval over McCarthy’s candidates.
Speaking on CNN, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) described McCarthy’s choices as “insulting” and “shameful.”
“Kevin McCarthy has decided his role as a minority leader in the House of Representatives is to essentially be chauffeur of the clown car,” she told Don Lemon:
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has made his selection of 5 Republicans to join the committee investigating the January 6th Capitol attack.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells @donlemon his picks are “insulting, not just on a party basis, but to this country.” Watch: pic.twitter.com/kPufEH7Y1n— Don Lemon Tonight (@DonLemonTonight) July 20, 2021
McCarthy’s choices were also widely panned by critics online:
BREAKING! @GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy has appointed O.J. Simpson to investigate the O.J. Simpson murders.
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) July 19, 2021
Kevin McCarthy named Jim Jordan to the 1/6 select committee.
This is like naming a Sinaloa cartel member to a jury for El Chapo trial.— Janice Hough (@leftcoastbabe) July 19, 2021
Kevin McCarthy Selects Committee to Investigate Rise of Crime in Gotham pic.twitter.com/4Y8R2p5q7Q
— Harper Turek (@HarperTurek) July 20, 2021
Republican leaders appointing Jim Jordan to the special committee investigating January 6 would have been like like Hermann Goering getting appointed to a committee investigating the Reichstag fire.
The height of silliness and insult. pic.twitter.com/b3t1Vxctvo— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) July 20, 2021
Mohamed Atta appointed to 9/11 commission. https://t.co/FHPs4LaKCP
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) July 19, 2021
Sounds about right. Kevin McCarthy would obviously include the complicit Chief Trumpist Jim Jordan as part of his picks for the Jan. 6 select committee. It will be one rant after another. Thank goodness Liz Cheney is well versed in smacking him down as needed.
— Olivia of Troye (@OliviaTroye) July 19, 2021
.@GOPLeader putting @Jim_Jordan on the #January6thCommission is like a wolf asking another wolf to help figure out what killed all those chickens.
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) July 19, 2021
The person Kevin McCarthy just chose to lead Republicans on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack was on television continuing to spread the big lie months after the attack on the Capitol https://t.co/d5MHjTwJA2
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) July 19, 2021
I'm still a little surprised Kevin McCarthy didn't appoint the QAnon Shaman to the committee to investigate the Jan. 6th insurrection... pic.twitter.com/dDJ3JHulrb
— ▄▀▄▀▄🄳🄰🄽🅃🄸🄵🄰▀▄▀▄▀ (@geargodd) July 20, 2021
"If Jim Jordan can look away while a coach is molesting wrestlers he can damn sure look away while MAGAs are molesting the Capitol."
-Kevin McCarthy's brain.— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) July 20, 2021
Imagine appointing 3 members of Al Qaeda to the 9/11 Commission.@GOPLeader just appointed three supporters of The Big Lie to the #January6thCommission. #TrumpTerroristshttps://t.co/YCHiHZLZwo
— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) July 19, 2021
So now we know part of what Trump told Kevin McCarthy when they met up the other day.
Might as well call these the #Bedminster5https://t.co/eSI3LbO3IG— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) July 19, 2021
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.