the capitol and the capitol campus so well. but being back there today and looking at the officer who s were on duty there in the eye, asking how they were and seeing tears in their eyes one told me that he couldn t sleep last night because he was thinking about the images seared in his mind, don, of being at his post at the canon building across from the house side of the capitol, watching people scaling the walls. so that is the reality that could have changed, to answer your question, could have changed like this had the immediate impulse of republicans that day, that night, and even the next day, on the floor of the house, on the floor of the senate condemning what happened, condemning the mob and the violence, had that continued, we would be in such a different place. it could have been a unifier. instead, a year later, we re
trying to send a message of healing. but he, just like so many others, have realized as the last year has progressed that you can t you re speaking to deaf ears when you re saying, please let s unite, and you have and you re up against a machine of conspiracies and lies that are working with a good chunk of the republican base in particular. and so for people who were republicans, who were admonishing the president today, saying, oh, that was just such a political speech, well, of course it s political because that is the playing field that donald trump laid out there for this whole thing to start in the first place. it was inherently political, and that was the whole point of president biden s speech. and he said afterwards when he was asked about the kind of
want to make sure that doesn t happen. you along with other members spoke with the former vice president dick cheney today on the house floor. talk to me about that. what was his message? well, i think it was very interesting that he was there today and that he chose to come today of all days to the house floor. you know, he s a former member of the house, so he has privileges, meaning he can come on the house floor anytime he wants. but he chose to come today to be with his daughter, liz, on the day of the anniversary of the 6th because i think he knows what she has done since then in terms of her bravery and standing up to her own party, and he knows how close we came as a country to losing our democracy that day. i have a lot of disagreements with the former vice president, but i was happy to see him there because in my opinion, this is a time for all americans of good will to come together regardless of party and to understand the fight now isn t between democrats and republica
connection at all to what the republican party is today under donald trump. max, have all these republicans peddling the big lie, have they betrayed their oath to the constitution? absolutely. no doubt about it, don. and, you know, i thought a year ago, right after the events of january 6th, i thought that some of these republicans would actually do their duty because they were in the crosshairs of this mob that was ransacking the capitol. and for about 30 seconds, it looked like they might actually stand up to trump and the forces that he had unleashed within the republican party. and you heard condemnations of those day s events from mitch mcconnell and other leaders of the republican party. but then when it came time to put up or shut up, to vote to impeach trump, almost all of them missed the opportunity. and in the last year, you ve seen the complete abasement and
Transcripts for CNN Don Lemon Tonight 20220107 08:54:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.