Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., on Sunday last week attacked the storming of the American Capitol by Trump supporters, saying that half of the House legislators had come ‘near death’.
Ocasio-Cortez commented during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” with host George Stephanopoulos.
Stephanopoulos read out a letter from GOP lawmakers to President-elect Joe Biden in which they opposed attempts to accuse President Trump so close to Inauguration Day. Lawmakers said it was “unnecessary” and “inflammatory” to continue the effort.
Ocasio-Cortez slammed the tone of the letter, calling the U.S. Capitol storm game Wednesday ‘rebellion against the United States’. She said both Trump and the rioters were complicit.
Ocasio-Cortez said any “cure”, as GOP lawmakers referred to in their letter to Biden, would require accountability.
“So if we allow unpunished uprising against the United States, without liability, then we invite it to happen again,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We died almost half of the house on Wednesday.”
A violent group of Trump supporters overpowered police, broke through security lines and windows and ran through the Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to disperse as they clinched Biden’s victory over Trump in Electoral College.
SECRET SERVICES WITHOUT THE THREAT OF DEATH AGAINST VICE PRESIDENT
Ocasio-Cortez noted that if a foreign head of state were to order an attack on the US Congress, most people would call for prosecution.
“Should we say that there should be absolutely no response to it? No. It is an uprising. It is an act of hostility. And we must be held accountable, because without it it will happen again,” she said.
Her comments come hours before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that the House would continue with legislation to accuse Trump, while calling on the Vice President and the Cabinet to call for constitutional authority to enforce him, and warns that Trump is a threat to democracy after the deadly attack on the Capitol.
In a letter to her colleagues, Pelosi said the House would first vote to push for Vice President Mike Pence to use the powers of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. After 24 hours, she said, the House will continue with legislation on indictment. Trump could become the only U.S. president charged twice.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“To protect our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this president is a threatening threat to both,” Pelosi said, adding: “The horror of the ongoing onslaught on our democracy carried out by this president , is sharpened and so is the immediate need for action. ‘
The Associated Press contributed to this report.