Capitol rioting: Rep. Crenshaw blasts fellow Republicans for 'lying' to Trump supporters
'The same members of Congress who called people to fight, they were nowhere to be found,' Texas Republican tells 'The Story'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Voters were "lied to" leading up to the riots that engulfed the Capitol in chaos and resulted in at least four deaths, Rep. Dan Crenshaw told Fox News on Thursday.
The Texas Republican came to the defense of Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., in an interview on "The Story," after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. called on them to resign or face expulsion from Congress for their role in challenging the Electoral College count.
"Let me be as clear as possible here. Senator Cruz and Hawley, I disagree with them in a fundamental way about the constitutionality of this process on January 6th, [and] the ability of Congress to overturn any electoral votes, period, " Crenshaw told host Martha MacCallum.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"But," he continued, "let's be very honest. Senator Cruz and Senator Hawley were not hyping up January 6th. They were not calling for people to fight in the streets. They were not saying this is the last stand. That being said, many members of Congress did do that. Many commentators did do that. Many in the media have been doing that, for the last few weeks, saying constantly [that] this is our time to fight."
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"They've been lying that Jan. 6th was going to be this big solution for election integrity -- and it was never going to be."
"They've been lying to people, lying to millions," Crenshaw went on. "They've been lying that January 6th was going to be this big solution for election integrity, and it was never going to be.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It was never going to solve anything and it was always unconstitutional."
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The real battle to preserve election integrity must be fought "at the state level," Crenshaw said. "That’s where you solve the important question of election integrity, and they lied to people saying, 'Fight, go fight, because everything's on the line.'"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The ex-Navy SEAL noted that as demonstrators breached the Capitol, the "same members of Congress who called people to fight, they were nowhere to be found. Because it was all fun and games to them."
"They never knew what a real fight was," Crenshaw went on. "Real fights are scary. Bullets flying, that’s scary. glass breaking, that’s really scary.
"They were nowhere to be found, they scattered. They talked about the courage to stand up, the courage to fight for weeks and weeks but when it came down to it, there was no courage."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An emotional Crenshaw then emphasized his support for preserving the integrity of the democratic process.
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"I know that I'm not going to lie to you," he told viewers. "I'm going to tell you where we have to do the hard work and we have to change these laws at the state level because these laws are loose. They don’t give people confidence.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We hear you," he said, "but we have to come together and work at the state level and change these things."