Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says GOP leaders who dismiss consequences for Capitol riots ‘are opening the door for it to happen again’

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez excoriated GOP leaders on Saturday, saying that a lack of accountability for the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 would preclude any “healing” from the violent episode, in which five people died.
• The second-term New York Democrat has asked her Republican colleagues to join the push in removing President Donald Trump from office.
• “Let’s be very clear,” she tweeted. “The officials urging for no serious consequences after Wednesday’s attack on our country – including the impeachment, removal, expulsion, and/or indictment of officials who aided, abetted, or incited the attack – are opening the door for it to happen again.”
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez excoriated GOP leaders on Saturday, saying that a lack of accountability for the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 would preclude any “healing” from the violent episode, in which five people died, including a Capitol police officer.

Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to slam Republicans, many of whom chose to entertain President Donald Trump’s debunked election challenges that rioters used as a justification to try and stop the President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory from being certified.

“Let’s be very clear,” she wrote. “The officials urging for no serious consequences after Wednesday’s attack on our country – including the impeachment, removal, expulsion, and/or indictment of officials who aided, abetted, or incited the attack – are opening the door for it to happen again.”

—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 9, 2021

The second-term New York Democrat, who has asked her Republican colleagues to join the push for Trump’s removal from office, stressed that the deadly riots will have major repercussions for the country.

Read more: President-elect Biden expressed confidence his inauguration will be safe. A few hours later, Twitter warned there’s talk of another DC Capitol attack on January 17th.

“Since it appears GOP leaders need a reminder: There is no ‘healing’ from this without accountability,” Ocasio-Cortez added in another tweet. “And there is no “unity” with white supremacists. You know the President’s state has devolved dangerously. If you’re too weak to do anything about it, you’re too weak to serve.”

—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 9, 2021

On Friday, Ocasio-Cortez wrote that Trump endangered the lives of all members, not just Democrats.

“To my GOP colleagues: know that this President incited an insurrection against and incited his mob to find, harm, and possibly kill not just Democrats, but you, too. He *will* allow opportunities of physical harm against you if you aren’t sufficiently loyal to him. Remove him,” she tweeted.

This past week, Ocasio-Cortez lit into Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who was the first Senate Republican to declare that he would raise objections to the Jan. 6 certification, after a publisher canceled his upcoming book amid fallout from the riots.

“You fist-pumped insurrectionists and baselessly attacked our elections,” she tweeted. “Your actions fueled a riot and you fund raised in the chaos. Five people are dead. Even your GOP colleagues have distanced from your acts.”

Trump, who faces a possible impeachment vote from House Democrats next week, has seen a wave of staff resignations over the past few days in reaction to his handling of the situation, including Transportation secretary Elaine Chao and Education secretary Betsy DeVos.