Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Friday that GOP Reps Liz Cheney (WY) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill) are "patriots" after they were censured by the Republican National Committee for their involvement in investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The RNC censured Cheney and Kinzinger last week for being part of the House Jan. 6 committee tasked with investigating the attack at the Capitol and for their critique of former President Donald Trump.
The Minnesota Democrat said during an appearance on "The View" that the two Republicans are "simply doing their jobs" and are trying to ensure that the events of Jan. 6 never happen again.
"I think this censure of these two Republicans who are simply doing their jobs, they're investigating what happened that day so it never happens again, I think it is wrong," Klobuchar said. "And I'm glad that some Republicans are standing up against it."
"Certainly all Democrats are against it," she continued. "You've got to be able to look at what happened historically to be able to move forward as a democracy and get the facts out, and that's what they're doing. To me, they've been patriots."
The RNC's resolution to censure Cheney and Kinzinger also created controversy within the Republican Party when it referred to Jan. 6 as "legitimate political discourse."
"Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse," the resolution read.
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) were among the Republicans to condemn the RNC's statement about Jan. 6.
"It was a violent insurrection with the purpose of trying to prevent a peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election," McConnell said earlier this week.
But RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has tried to clarify the RNC's stance on Jan. 6, saying numerous times since last week's resolution that the committee only considered the peaceful protesters to have engaged in "legitimate political discourse."
"Legitimate political discourse never includes violence," McDaniel said Wednesday during a Fox News interview.
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