Are, quote, participating in democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in, these are the keywords, legitimate political discourse. nbc news senior national political reporter sahil kapur is on the hill for us. those last three words are the ones many people are taking issue with. does that include some republicans? is anybody speaking up in reaction to this move? reporter: yes, they are, alex. so far the republican reaction to that resolution has been sharply divided, both on the censure of cheney and kinzinger as well as that language you just mentioned that they used to characterize the january 6th attack on the capitol. former president trump himself heaped praise on that censure resolution, calling cheney and kinzinger horrible rinos, his
AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is not in an enviable position. He has to ride herd on the most disparate group of politicians in Washington.
Almost by default, he’s emerging as the Republican leader in Washington with Trump sidelined and muzzled and no other GOP personality stepping forward. And McConnell doesn’t relish his position. He was comfortable being one of the good old boys in the Senate, which is no longer quite the collegial place it used to be.
With his position as the media-designated Republican spokesman, McConnell is being asked to comment on people and issues he really shouldn’t have to. A case in point is Liz Cheney’s vote to impeach Donald Trump in the House. He said nice things about Cheney, who would be ridden out of town on a rail after being tarred and feathered if Trump supporters got their way.