A Republican’s vigorous defense of Donald Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol four years ago turned an on-air CNN discussion into a full-on debate about who was peacefully protesting, who was trespassing, and who should’ve been prosecuted.
The moment came Monday evening on CNN’s “The Source” when GOP strategist David Urban said that not only was the issue of Jan. 6 litigated in the courts, but also in the last election – “and the American people dismissed it as well.”
“I agree the beating of police officers – Donald Trump said it himself – violence is never acceptable,” Urban said Monday. “Those people that beat the police officers, that injured a police officer, should go to jail. There's no ifs, ands or buts.”
However, Urban added, “there’s a completely different story” on the Supreme Court side of the Capitol, where he said people “were allowed in” and officers “didn't seem frightened or outnumbered.”
He also told the panel that “to be factual” Ashley Babbitt “was the only person who died” on that day.
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But the longtime Republican’s separation of the violence didn’t sit well with CNN’s Kate Bedingfield or Sarah Matthews, Trump’s former deputy press secretary who resigned on Jan. 6, 2021, over the Capitol riot.
“That is beyond splitting hairs,” Bedingfield said referencing the Capitol police officer who died the day after the attack. “Come on."
“She wouldn't have been there that day if Donald Trump didn't spread conspiracy theories about an election that he knew was not stolen,” Matthews told Urban. “And he told those people to go to the Capitol. And so, she was there as a result of him telling her. She would not have died if it weren't for Donald Trump to accept the results of the election, and you know that.”
Urban concluded the dust-up by adding that he doesn't believe that Trump should pardon Jan. 6 defendants on day one.
“I think there are lots of things the American people care about much more so than January 6," he said.
Watch the clip below or at this link.
