WASHINGTON — Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) complained Thursday that Democrats keep bringing up the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where President Donald Trump’s nominees routinely, and alarmingly, refuse to answer questions about the violence of that day and about who won the 2020 election.
Schmitt, a close ally of Trump, griped about having to keep talking about the violence of Jan. 6 in the middle of National Police Week, a time when lawmakers in both parties play up their support for law enforcement officers and honor those who have died in the line of duty.
A number of police officers died by suicide after the events of Jan. 6, when Trump incited a mob of his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol and brutally beat dozens of law enforcement officers in an attempt to stop lawmakers from certifying Joe Biden as president.
Schmitt’s comments came during a Thursday hearing where senators were voting on a batch of the president’s nominees. He brought up that Feb. 2 is the birthday of Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), a committee member, and pointed out that the day is also Groundhog Day.
“I think that we ought to change the date of Groundhog Day to January 6, because every time I walk into this committee hearing – it’s everything,” said the Missouri Republican. “Everything stops and starts with January 6.”
