By Amy B Wang March 14, 2021 at 11:01 a.m. EDT
Several Democrats have called on Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to step down after he said he didn’t feel threatened in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol — but would have been concerned if the mob had been made up of Black Lives Matter or antifa protesters.
In an interview Thursday on “The Joe Pags Show,” a conservative news radio show, Johnson said he “never felt threatened” by the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 hoping to overturn the results of the election.
The siege left five people dead, including a police officer; two other officers who were on duty that day later died by suicide. More than 100 officers were injured and at least 40 rioters have been charged with assaulting law enforcement officers, who were shown being harassed, beaten and sprayed with gas substances by members of the mob.
Johnson, however, said he saw only law-abiding citizens
“I knew those are people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law, so I wasn’t concerned,” Johnson told “The Joe Pags Show,” according to a clip of the interview posted Friday by American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic group, which blasted Johnson for his “blatant racism.”
“Now, had the tables been turned — now, Joe, this will get me in trouble — had the tables been turned and President Trump won the election and those were tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and antifa protesters, I might have been a little concerned,” Johnson said.
Reporting has shown that the rioters on Jan. 6 were predominantly White and drawn to Washington that day by President Donald Trump and their shared grievances over the election. Read HERE.