Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts knew exactly the answer she would get.
At the House Oversight Committee hearing on the January 6 insurrection, Pressley asked Trump's "Acting AG" (yeah) whether the government under Trump treated the Black Lives Matter protests of Summer 2020 differently than the January 6 insurrection. "Was it different for Black Lives Matter than it was on January sixth, yes or no?"
Of course, Jeffrey Rosen avoided a direct answer: "I think we're talking about very different situations."
Pressley reclaimed her time.
Chris Hayes asked her to explain the difference, and what followed was everything you need to know about "the difference."
AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA) Well I'll tell you what was in common here was white supremacy was the primary driver in our government's violent response to peaceful Black Lives Matter protests, as well as white supremacy was the primary driver of their inaction in the face of the deadly insurrection of the January 6th attack. It just couldn't be more plain, the coalition of black activists protesting against the violence, a systemic racial injustice were demonized, traumatized, brutalized. They were met with tear gas and rubber bullets, and multiple militarized agencies were engaged in this response. But when it came to white supremacy, seeking to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power, a violent mob wearing t-shirts that said Auschwitz, branding Confederate flags, calling United States Capitol Police Officers that are Black Americans the n-word, over and over again. Causing injuries, trauma, loss of life. The federal response was delayed and inefficient and insufficient. We have got to confront white supremacy, root it out and that begins with accountability. Of course, they are running from that they are: delusional enablers.
Pressley concluded by noting that "one of our colleagues today said that what happened was no different than tourists coming in the Capitol, milling about!"
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