Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) said "both sides" were to blame after former President Donald Trump glorified Jan. 6 defendants at a rally in Waco, Texas over the weekend.
In an interview on CBS News, host Margaret Brennan pointed to Trump's
Saturday rally in Waco.
"When he walked on stage, he played a recording made by some of those who are being prosecuted for attacking the Capitol on January 6th," Brennan said. "He also had footage seeming to glorify the attack that day. He's calling for protests. He said things like death and destruction if he's indicted."
"I know you've supported him in the past," she added. "Do you support statements like this?"
"Look, January 6th was a terrible day. We have to make sure that never happens again," Gonzales replied. "But it was great to have President Trump back in Texas. And it was a reminder that Trump's policies, President Trump's policies worked. Right now, we're in a time where Biden is failing us. And so, I welcome any serious presidential candidate to come to Texas, see it firsthand."
"But what the former president was talking about was not policy or substance," Brennan countered. "Don't you see some danger from lionizing those who are being prosecuted for breaking the law and attacking the place where you and other lawmakers work? Isn't that part of it something that must give you pause?"
"The rhetoric is absolutely out of control," Gonzales insisted. "On both sides, on all sides."
"But I'd also see, you know, I see President Trump honestly being attacked, being demonized on all these different fronts," he continued. You know, things that are happening to him in regards to the classified documentation, similar things happen to President Biden. You don't see those things."
Brennan pressed Gonzales on his support for Trump.
"This is a line that you feel you can't cross when it comes to criticizing what the former president did with lionizing January 6th attackers?" she said.
"I'm always going to fight for what I believe is right," Gonzales asserted. "And what I see right now is people are fed up with the environment that is happening. They're fed up with the rhetoric. They're tired of inflation. They're tired of the border crisis. They're tired of the national security policy. And they want real action."
"And whoever delivers that for them is going to get their vote, whether that's President Trump or anyone else," he concluded.
