Rep. Dean calls out Kevin McCarthy for not joining Jan. 6 commemoration on Capitol steps
LET’S BRING IN MADELEINE DEAN. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. IT FEELS LIKE THIS IS NOT A REVOLT ON SOME SORT OF PRINCIPLE. IT’S A REVOLT FOR POWER FOR THE PEOPLE REVOLTING. ONE MEMBER THRESHOLDS FOR A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENT, MEANING THEY CAN ELIMINATE THE SPEAKER AT ANY MOMENT. MORE FREEDOM CAUCUS MEMBERS ON THE RULES COMMITTEE, MEANING THE INSURRECTIONISTS, THE PEOPLE WHO SUPPORTED THE MOB THAT TRIED TO KILL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND THE VICE PRESIDENT WOULD CONTROL THE RULES. CONTROLS ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING. THEIR IDEA IS THEY WANT TO DECIDE WHETHER WE DEFAULT ON OUR
DEBT. AND PROCEDURE STUFF, AND YOU KNOW, STUFF TO PREVENT THEMSELVES FROM HAVING MONEY SPENT AGAINST THEM IN ELECTIONS. IT FEELS REALLY SMALL, CONGRESSWOMAN. BUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, THE PEOPLE WHO MARAUDED THE CAPITOL AND THREATENED TO KILL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, SUCH AS YOURSELF, THEY DID IT ALL FOR SOMETHING SMALL, FOR DONALD TRUMP TO BE ABLE TO NOT SAY HE LOST AN ELECTION. YOUR THOUGHTS. >> WELL, JOY, I HAVE TO ADMIT, IT’S POIGNANT TO BE WITH YOU THIS EVENING. THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF JANUARY 6th. AND SO WHILE WE CAN LOOK AT THESE NEGOTIATIONS AND WE
WILL GO BACK TONIGHT AT 10:00 IN THE EVENING, LATE IN THE EVENING, AND VOTE A 14th TIME, AND I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY
OUR CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY IN THE FACE OF INSURRECTIONISTS WHO ATTACKED OUR CAPITOL, SUPPORTED, SUPPORTED BY MEMBERS OF THIS REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE. SO IT IS POIGNANT, STRANGE, AND SAD. EXTRAORDINARY LOSSES THAT WE REMEMBER TODAY. THE EXTRAORDINARY TRAUMA, THE LOSS OF LIFE. THIS WAS NOT JUST AN INSURRECTION. IT WAS DEADLY. YOU DESCRIBED IT SADLY VERY, VERY WELL. AND SO I’M JUST MINDFUL OF THE FACT THAT I’LL GO BACK THERE TONIGHT. WE’LL SEE THEM SWEAR IN, I GUESS ELECT A PAPER LEADER. WE WILL BE SWORN IN LIKELY AROUND MIDNIGHT. CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT? ON JANUARY 6th. >> YOU KNOW, WE
HAVE AN IMAGE OF YOU THAT IS REALLY JARRING ON THAT DAY WITH THE GAS MASK AND ALL OF YOU WERE IN THE GALLERY, TRYING TO HOLD THE GALLERY AS LONG AS YOU COULD. YOU EVENTUALLY HAD TO BE EVACUATED OUT OF THERE. TODAY, ALL OF THE DEMOCRATS AND JUST ONE REPUBLICAN GATHERED TO HONOR THE CAPITOL POLICE OFFICERS WHO SAVED YOUR LIVES. AND ONLY ONE REPUBLICAN SHOWED UP FOR THAT. AND KEVIN McCARTHY, WHO WANTS TO BE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE, DIDN’T SHOW UP FOR THAT. ONE MUST PRESUME THE ONLY REASON HE DIDN’T SHOW UP IS HE KNEW
THE PEOPLE WHO HE NEEDS VOTES FROM DETEST THE IDEA THAT THE JANUARY 6th MOB WAS STOPPED, AND SO IT WAS POLITICS AGAIN. HOW DOES IT READ FOR YOU THAT THE MAN WHO WANTS TO BE SPEAKER, AND ALL BUT ONE REPUBLICAN REFUSED TO COME OUT AND JOIN IN THAT 142nd MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR THOSE WHO DIED? >> IT’S STUNNING AND SHAMEFUL. I OF COURSE, WAS STANDING RIGHT THERE. AND I HAVE TO ADMIT TO YOU, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING AT THE VERY SAME TIME? THEY WERE HAVING A TELEPHONE CONFERENCE CALL AROUND McCARTHY’S ATTEMPT AT
LEADERSHIP. I LIKENED IT TO A FOOTBALL COACH. COULD YOU IMAGINE A FOOTBALL COACH AFRAID TO GO INTO THE LOCKER ROOM TO TALK TO HIS TEAM, TO RALLY THE SUPPORT FOR WHAT THEY NEEDED TO DO TOGETHER TO UNIFY THEM? MR. McCARTHY COULD NOT MEET THEM IN PERSON, AND MUCH MORE SHAMEFULLY, DIDN’T TAKE THE TIME TO COME OUT FRONT TO THOSE CAPITOL STEPS BECAUSE WE ATTEMPTED TO MAKE IT A BIPARTISAN REMEMBRANCE. THE MOST MEANINGFUL MOMENT TO ME, I HAVE TO SAY, I WAS MINDFUL OF MY OWN SADNESS AND REMEMBERING THE TRAUMA OF THAT DAY. I CAN STILL
HEAR THE GAS MASKS. I CAN STILL HEAR THE POUNDING ON THE GLASS DOORS, AND ALL OF THAT FADED AWAY WHEN YOU SAW MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY WALK UP TO THE MICROPHONE AND SAY THE NAMES OF THE FALLEN OFFICERS. DID YOU SEE THE MOMENT WHEN THE TWO CHILDREN WALKED UP, NOT TALL ENOUGH TO REACH THE MICROPHONE TO CALL OUT THE NAME OF OFFICER BILLY? MY GOD, HOW COULD ANY ONE OF US NOT HAVE BEEN THERE? AS I SAID, PAPER, PAPER LEADER. >> IT’S HARD FOR ME TO IMAGINE. IT IS HARD FOR ME TO IMAGINE. GIVEN THE
FACT THAT ALL OF THIS HAS JUST BEEN FOR BEAR POLITICS, THAT THEY WERE WILLING TO ALLOW FELLOW MEMBERS MAYBE BE HURT OR KILLED TO KEEP DONALD TRUMP IN OFFICE, AND KEVIN McCARTHY EVEN SAID HE KNEW TRUMP WAS TO BLAME, AND THEN HE CHANGED HIS MIND FOR POLITICS. HOW CAN ANYONE ON THE DEMOCRATIC SIDE RESPECT HIM IF HE BECOMES THE SPEAKER OR TRUST HIM? >> WELL, I’LL SPEAK ONLY FOR MYSELF, THAT I DON’T RESPECT HIM. I WANT SO MUCH FOR THE REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE TO BE SUCCESSFUL, TO BE UNIFIED, AND TO BE ABOUT THE PEOPLE. AND THE
PEOPLE’S WORK. BUT AT TURN AFTER TURN, WE HAVEN’T SEEN THAT. I HAVE SAID AT TURN AFTER TURN THESE LAST YEARS, MR. McCARTHY MADE CHOICES. WE ALL MAKE CHOICES, FRANKLY, BUT MR. McCARTHY MADE CHOICES. AFTER JANUARY 6th, WE SAW HIM WITH GREAT RESOLVE SAY THAT THE PRESIDENT BARED RESPONSIBILITY. AND WITHIN DAYS TURNED ON THAT 180 DEGREES AND BECAME COMPLICIT, SAID THERE WAS NOT RESPONSIBILITY. AND THEN WITH THE VERY ROGUE MEMBERS WHO CAME TO HIS CONFERENCE, INSTEAD OF REIGNING THEM IN, INSTEAD OF SHOWING MATURITY AND SAYING YOUR ANTI-SEMITIC REMARKS ARE UNACCEPTABLE HERE, MOST RECENTLY, WITH MR. SANTOS,
ABOUT TO BE SWORN IN, SILENCE FROM MR. McCARTHY. TURN AFTER TURN AFTER TURN. SO I WILL SPEAK FOR MYSELF IN SAYING, AND MY OWN PERSONAL INTERACTIONS, FRANKLY, ON LEGISLATION I HAVE HAD ON THE FLOOR, AND THE BULLYING STRANGE INTERACTION OF THIS FAILED LEADER, I DON’T HAVE RESPECT FOR THE CREDIBILITY OF HIS ABILITY TO LEAD. HIS ETHOS IS LACKING. CAN I JUST OFFER A VERY IMPORTANT STARK CONTRAST? I KNOW THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SAW OVER THE COURSE OF THIS WEEK THE EXTRAORDINARY RESOLVE IN THE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS. WE’RE ONLY FOUR VOTES DOWN. WE HAVE BROUGHT IN NEW MEMBERS,
34, 35 NEW MEMBERS WHO ARE OF EXTRAORDINARY DIVERSITY AND TALENT, AND WE IN A UNIFIED WAY IN VOTE AFTER VOTE AFTER VOTE AFTER VOTE AFTER VOTE AFTER VOTE VOTED FOR HAKEEM JEFFRIES WITH A CONFIDENCE IN HIM AND IN OUR LEADERSHIP, AND IN OUR VISION FOR THE PEOPLE AND FOR POLICIES THAT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. SO AS DARK AS TODAY FEELS, I AM SO OPTIMISTIC FOR OUR FUTURE BECAUSE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ELECTED THIS CONFERENCE, OUR CONFERENCE, AND THEY SEE THE TOTAL DYSFUNCTION ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE AISLE. >> CONGRESSWOMAN MADELEINE DEAN, YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN
SO KIND TO BE WITH US TO TALK ABOUT THIS VERY DIFFICULT ISSUE ON A VERY DIFFICULT DAY FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR FELLOW MEMBERS AND STAFF ON JANUARY 6th. AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AS WELL. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. >>> JOINING ME NOW IS CONGRESSWOMAN CORI BUSH OF MISSOURI. YOU WERE A NEWLY MINTED CONGRESSWOMAN. YOU HAD JUST BEEN SWORN IN DAYS BEFORE JANUARY 6th. AND SO I GUESS I’LL ASK YOU THE SAME QUESTION. THIS IS A SOMBER DAY. I SPENT MUCH OF THE DAY WATCHING THE VARIOUS CEREMONIES TAKING PLACE, AND YOU KNOW, THE PRESIDENT HONORING NOT JUST THE
LAW ENFORCEMENT FOLKS BUT ALSO THE ELECTION WORKERS AND THOSE WHO STOOD UP FOR DEMOCRACY. AND IT WAS STRIKING THAT THE ONLY REPUBLICANS I SAW WERE THOSE REPUBLICANS WHO WERE HONORED BY PRESIDENT BIDEN FOR SAYING NO TO THEIR PARTY AND CERTIFYING THE ELECTION. WHEN YOU ALL STOOD TOGETHER TO HONOR THE POLICE OFFICERS WHO DIED AND TO GIVE THEIR CHILDREN THE CHANCE TO SAY THEIR FAMILY’S NAMES AND THEIR WIVES, NO REPUBLICANS BUT ONE WERE THERE. I WONDER HOW THAT MADE YOU FEEL. >> YOU KNOW, LET ME JUST SAY, AND THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME ON, JOY, AGAIN,
TWO YEARS LATER. I WAS ON WITH YOU THAT NIGHT, AS WE WERE ON LOCKDOWN IN THE OFFICE. WHEN WE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A PANIC BUTTON YET, WE DIDN’T HAVE AN ENUNCIATOR TO HEAR WHAT WAS GOING ON. BUT YOU KNOW, I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT LAST NIGHT. LIKE SHOULD I SHOW UP TO THIS REFLECTION? I HAD TO ASK A COUPLE OF MY CBC COLLEAGUES, WHAT SHOULD I DO? AND THE REASON WHY I WAS ASKING THE QUESTION WAS BECAUSE IT WAS BIPARTISAN, AND I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW DO I STAND AND REFLECT ON THIS MOMENT
WITH THOSE THAT EVEN IF THEY WERE NOT — THEY DIDN’T PARTAKE, EVEN IF THEY WERE NOT A PART OF THE INSURRECTION, MANY OF THEM DIDN’T SPEAK OUT. FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT SPEAK OUT, FOR THOSE THAT TURNED THEIR HEADS OR STAYED QUIET BECAUSE THEY WERE TRYING TO WIN AN ELECTION, I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW I COULD STAND WITH THEM, BUT I THOUGHT ABOUT THE FAMILIES. I THOUGHT ABOUT THOSE THAT LOST THEIR LIVES, SO THAT’S WHY I SHOWED UP. AND I THOUGHT ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE OFFICERS ON THE HILL, OFFICER HARRY DUNN, WHO
I TALK TO EVERY TIME I SEE HIM. I THOUGHT ABOUT HIM AND HIS STORY. AND SO I WAS THERE. BUT THE FACT THAT THEY COULDN’T SHOW UP, WHAT TYPE OF LEADERSHIP IS THAT? THEY HAVE SAID, JOY, FOR TWO YEARS THAT I HAVE HEARD BECAUSE I WAS THERE ONLY FOR TWO YEARS, WE’RE GOING TO LEAD. YOU KNOW, WHEN WE TAKE OVER, WE’RE GOING TO GOVERN, WE’RE GOING TO SHOW THE DEMOCRATS. DEMOCRATS ARE ALSO IN DISARRAY. WE’RE GOING TO SHOW THEM HOW TO GOVERN. WELL, THEY HAVE NOT DONE THAT. THEY HAVE BEEN THERE SINCE TUESDAY AND HAD
TWO YEARS TO FIGURE IT OUT, AND THEY HAD SINCE NOVEMBER REALLY SINCE NOVEMBER TO REALLY, REALLY FIGURE IT OUT AND HONE IN ON HOW TO LEAD. THIS WAS NOT LEADERSHIP BECAUSE PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES. PEOPLE WHO SHOWED UP TO WORK, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WHO SHOULD BE WITH US TODAY. PEOPLE WHO TOOK THEIR LIVES, YOU KNOW, AFTER THIS HAPPENED. PEOPLE WHO LOST SO MUCH AFTER THIS. CHILDREN WHO HAD TO GIVE A NAME ON A MICROPHONE AS I JUST HEARD
