Quickly after the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, Space Republican Convention Chair Elise Stefanik did what many participants of Congress did: The New York congresswoman issued a written press liberate condemning the violence.
“This is truly a tragic day for America,” Stefanik’s observation mentioned. “I fully condemn the dangerous violence and destruction that occurred today at the United States Capitol. Americans have a Constitutional right to protest and freedom of speech, but violence in any form is absolutely unacceptable and anti-American. The perpetrators of this un-American violence and destruction must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The similar press observation went to thank regulation enforcement, the Nationwide Guard, and “the bipartisan professional staff of the United States Capitol for protecting the People’s House and the American people.”
However the ones desirous about studying this press liberate at the GOP chief’s web site will to find that the hyperlink no lengthy works. The observation, which used to be right here, has been taken down, changed with textual content that now reads, “The page you have requested does not exist or is undergoing routine maintenance.”
So, what took place to the unique? As Politico reported, Stefanik’s predecessor within the Space Republican management has a couple of ideas at the topic.
A sour conflict over the aftermath of the Jan. 6 assault erupted between two outstanding Republicans on Saturday, as Liz Cheney accused Rep. Elise Stefanik of protecting up her previous complaint of the Jan. 6 assault and branded Stefanik a “total crackpot.”
It used to be six days in the past when the Wyoming Republican used social media to remind the general public of Stefanik’s document. Linking to the New Yorker’s Jan. 6 observation, Cheney wrote, “This is what [Stefanik] said, in a rare moment of honesty, about the January 6 attack on our Capitol. One day she will have to explain how and why she morphed into a total crackpot. History, and our children, deserve to know.”
Quickly after, the clicking liberate in query used to be long past.
What’s extra, as of now, Stefanik’s press liberate archive most effective is going again to final yr. Consistent with Cheney, per week in the past, the archive went again to 2015 — Stefanik’s first yr on Capitol Hill — a declare reinforced by way of the Wayback System.
Is it imaginable that the incumbent Space Republican Convention chair simply took place to drag her Jan. 6 observation because of “routine maintenance”? Neatly, I don’t have definitive evidence on the contrary, however I additionally assume affordable observers can agree that it’s slightly a twist of fate that Stefanik’s workplace overhauled its web site after Cheney drew consideration to Stefanik’s Jan. 6 observation.
To make sure, the bigger dynamic is obvious: The New York Republican is going to cringeworthy lengths to provoke Donald Trump and his political operation, and he or she’s deserted any sense of disgrace — even echoing the previous president’s rhetoric about Jan. 6 criminals being “hostages.” Her correct and good feedback 3 years in the past at the moment are politically inconvenient as Stefanik rebrands herself as a extra radical and reactionary flesh presser.
However we nonetheless know what she wrote — and the way some distance Stefanik has moved within the 3 years following the Capitol attack.
Forward of the 2022 elections, a couple of too many Republicans scrambled to purge their legitimate web pages in their anti-abortion rhetoric. Forward of the 2024 elections, what number of Republicans will observe the similar direction on Jan. 6 as their birthday celebration scrambles to rewrite fresh historical past?