Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) took to the spotlight on Thursday to offer a reflection on last year's Capitol riot that varied pretty drastically from most others today.
The two Republicans first appeared on Stephen Bannon's podcast to declare "we're ashamed of nothing," as Gaetz put it, per Axios. "We're proud of the work we did on Jan. 6 to make legitimate arguments about election integrity," Gaetz continued, with Greene's agreement.
Later, they held a news conference (in lieu of a similar event by former President Donald Trump, who canceled his planned speech). Gaetz and Greene made the baseless claim that Capitol police, federal officials, and Democrats were in fact to blame for the violence that day. As The New York Times writes, "there is no evidence that undercover agents or other outsiders played a role in the attack."
While Gaetz asserted "we're here to get to the truth behind Jan. 6, the federal government's own involvement with it," he and Greene received swift pushback against their unproven claims. With their news conference as the only GOP event in the Capitol today (many other Republicans were at an event to honor the late Sen. Johnny Isakson), critics like author Jessica Shortall argued "the party is 100% letting them be the face and stance of the party on this."