Republican party calls January 6 attack ‘legitimate political discourse’

In an extraordinary move, the Republican party officially said Donald Trump's attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat and the deadly attack on the US Capitol were "legitimate political discourse".

A leading Democrat on the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection said historians would be "aghast".

The move by the Republican National Committee (RNC) came at its winter meetings in Salt Lake City on Friday, as part of the formal censure of Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, the only Republicans on the January 6 panel.

A resolution approved unanimously said Cheney and Kinzinger were engaged in the "persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse".

On January 6, 2021, two weeks before the inauguration of Joe Biden, the US Capitol in Washington was attacked by Trump supporters who the former president had told to "fight like hell" in service of his lie that his defeat was the result of electoral fraud.

The Confederate battle flag was carried into the halls of Congress. Rioters smeared feces on walls. Property was stolen, windows smashed. Members of Congress were hurried to safety. Some rioters sought lawmakers to capture and possibly kill. Some chanted for the hanging of Mike Pence, Trump's vice-president who resisted pressure to refuse to certify electoral college results.

Seven people died. More than 100 police officers were hurt. More than 700 people have been charged. Eleven members of a far-right militia face charges of seditious conspiracy.