Whether to find Donald Trump guilty or not has a political dimension for Senate Republicans, who can see that there is still a substantial base to their party loyal to the former president – and even state legislators still clinging to the conspiracy theories that have been spread about the Capitol insurrection.
Associated Press report that a Republican legislative leader in Michigan apologized yesterday after falsely claiming supporters of president Donald Trump were not involved in the deadly attack at the US Capitol, having called it a “hoax”, even as the Senate was watching a video of the events as part of Trump’s trial.
State Senate majority leader Mike Shirkey made the comments last Wednesday while meeting with leaders of the Hillsdale County Republican party, according to a video posted on YouTube by a group called Reclaim Our American Republic. The remarks were first reported by the Detroit Metro Times.
“I said some things in a videoed conversation that are not fitting for the role I am privileged to serve,” he said in a statement. “I own that. I have many flaws. Being passionate coupled with an occasional lapse in restraint of tongue are at least two of them. I regret the words I chose, and I apologize for my insensitive comments.”
The statement did not specify the remarks for which he was apologizing.
In the contentious meeting, three Republicans spoke with Shirkey at a restaurant a day before the Hillsdale County Republican Party’s executive board censured him for a number of reasons, including backing a ban on the open carry of guns into the Statehouse and allegedly not doing enough to fight Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Covid-19 restrictions.
Shirkey countered that Republicans had successfully sued the governor and taken other steps such as blocking her nominees. “Spanked her hard on the budget,” he said. “Spanked her hard on appointments. Did everything we could constitutionally do.”
At one point, a participant who said he was at the 6 January protest in Washington DC, asked Shirkey about it. He responded: “That wasn’t Trump people. That’s been a hoax from day one. That was all prearranged.”
Another participant, who also said he had been in DC, suggested that police tear-gassed “their own guards.”
Shirley said: “Why wasn’t there more security there? It was ridiculous. It was all staged,” claiming that then-US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell “was part of it. …They wanted to have a mess.”
That mess will carry on being debated in the Senate today, which reconvenes at noon EST, which is 5pm if, like me, you are in London.