Auchincloss: McCarthy should take care of white supremacy in own ranks, not fly down to kiss the ring of Donald Trump

Washington, D.C. – This morning, United States Representative Jake Auchincloss, who serves the 4th congressional district which includes Fall River, Taunton, and Attleboro, joined MSNBC to discuss breaking news in former President Trump’s impeachment trial, extremism in the GOP, and safety at the Capitol.

In the interview, Auchincloss discussed the second Impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump that is expected to begin on February 9th.

“[Trump’s lawyers] don’t want to defend the worst president in history. Regardless though, the Senate has a duty to convict – insurrection is unconstitutional. We’ve got to set a precedent that no president is above the law. And we also need to put distance between ourselves and this argument that somehow Congress can’t do two jobs at once. That we can’t govern in the midst of a crisis while holding a president to account and supporting and defending the constitution. We absolutely can do both. American families have been juggling a host of responsibilities for a year now. Congress can do likewise… I don’t care that much what Trump’s legal defense team looks like. What I care about is whether the Republican conference finally uses this as an opportunity to demonstrate moral leadership.”

Auchincloss also commented on what he feels is white supremacy governing the ranks of the Republican Party.

“Leader McCarthy should be taking care of white supremacy in his own ranks instead of flying down to Palm Beach to kiss the ring of Donald Trump…Trump is never going to do the right thing, but Republican leadership still has the opportunity to take the olive branch that President Biden extended and to work with us to finally put truth first and to tackle the pandemic at a time when so many Americans are hurting…Republicans are at a fork in the road right now. President Biden said in his inauguration, I want to work with you to take on the pandemic – to invest in jobs and infrastructure. I know Democrats in Congress want to work in a bipartisan fashion to take on this national disaster and to put Americans back to work – to build an economy that’s working for everybody. And instead, Republicans are letting extremism and white supremacy and sedition govern their ranks. Republican leadership needs to take ownership of this and instead they are continuing to buy into this most noxious element of their conference.”

Auchincloss also addressed in the interview the new fence being installed at The Capitol and recent incidents and comments tied to Georgia State Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

“I’ve said immediately upon the insulation of this new fence that we do not want the Capitol to resemble a ‘Green Zone,’ that we do not want to turn the home of our democracy into a fortress. It’s not a healthy posture – journalists and constituents and taxpayers should be able to access the Capitol. I feel safe, want to have a permeable Capitol, however, Marjorie Taylor Greene is trying to bring a gun onto the House floor and she has called for violence against Speaker Pelosi, against Barack Obama, against Hillary Clinton. I absolutely do not blame or doubt my colleagues who don’t feel safe around her.”