These 4 Republican lawmakers condemned the January 6 insurrection — but now endorse Trump

13 February 2024

In the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, numerous Republican lawmakers publicly denounced the insurrection and its participants. But now, four members of the House of Representatives and US Senate have done a complete 180 and endorsed former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign despite his role in the attack.

CBS News first reported on the lawmakers' about-face on the capitol siege and their support of the man at the forefront of it, and compared their past remarks to their 2024 endorsements. Two members of Congress listed below are running for reelection this November, and two are up for reelection in 2026.

1. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia)

After the deadly attack on the capitol, Capito said "I think the president does own this" in an interview with WV Metro News. However, she has since endorsed Trump's bid for a second term in the White House, and said "history will make that judgment" on whether Trump does, in fact, own what happened three years ago.

2. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana)

Daines, who is now the chair of Senate Republicans' campaign arm, was unequivocal in his condemnation of the January 6 attack. He stated "the focus must be to arrest and prosecute the domestic terrorists who broke into our Capitol, attacked law enforcement officers, sought to cause harm, and tried to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power," and called for rioters to be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

However, Daines has since walked back those comments, saying that the people who stormed the halls of Congress on January 6 "were not domestic terrorists." He gave a full-throated defense of the former president, saying he accomplished more "than any president I've seen in my lifetime," and that he "can't wait to see President Trump back in the Oval Office."

3. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pennsylvania)

Smucker (who served as president of the Smucker Company for 25 years before his election to Congress) initially published a statement in the days following the January 6 attack that condemned rioters and praised law enforcement, saying it was "simply unacceptable" and "not who we are as a nation." He added that he "support[s] the prosecution of the insurrectionists to the fullest extent of the law" and that Trump was "wrong" for Trump to give "false hope" to his supporters about overturning the election.

But now, Smucker has flipped, telling CBS he would be "happy to have Trump as president again." And in regard to the rioters who ransacked the capitol, he falsely asserted that "never called them insurrectionists" despite his 2021 statement.

4. Rep. William Timmons (R-South Carolina)

Like Smucker, Timmons loudly condemned the January 6 insurrection, calling it "mob violence" in a statement posted to his congressional website two days after the attack.

"The actions yesterday by those who breached the U.S. Capitol are the very definition of domestic terrorism. There are no excuses for attacking law enforcement, breaking barricades, shattering windows, and busting down doors to gain entry," he stated. "Anyone who was complicit in these acts of domestic terrorism should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This act of insurrection cannot go unpunished."

But the congressman has made efforts to separate Trump from the violence carried out by his supporters, while also standing alongside the former president with other South Carolina Republicans at a campaign event in New Hampshire. He told CBS that "President Trump bears no responsibility for the small number of individuals who broke laws on Jan. 6," even though Trump told supporters during his January 6 speech that they should "fight like hell or you're not gonna have a country anymore."

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