When liberals wonder why conservatives question their patriotism, what happened in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday explains why.
Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced a seemingly innocuous amendment requesting members of the Committee recite the Pledge of Allegiance before every meeting. But Democrats threw a tantrum instead.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) dismissed the proposal, saying it was “not the most important amendment in the world.” He also whined about the idea of having to pledge allegiance to our country more than once a day.
Two members then falsely smeared Gaetz and other Republicans on the committee as insurrectionists. This led to a nasty argument between the Florida Congressman and one of the instigators, deranged Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI).
WATCH:
Here is the full story from Newsweek:
Republican Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida on Wednesday introduced an amendment in the House Judiciary Committee that would include a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance before every meeting.
The move caused not only objections but also a heated moment between Republican and Democratic members of the committee.
As Gaetz noted, he first called for the Judiciary Committee to open with the pledge two years ago. Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler of New York, who was chairman of the committee at the time, told Gaetz in 2021 that the move was unnecessary since the committee members already pledge allegiance on the House floor every morning.
On Wednesday, Nadler used the same reasoning when he was the first to speak out against Gaetz’s amendment.
“I don’t know why we should pledge allegiance twice in the same day to show how patriotic we are,” Nadler said. “I don’t think this is the most important amendment in the world.”
In introducing the amendment to the committee, Gaetz said it would give “our members the ability to invite inspirational constituents to be able to share and lead in the Pledge of Allegiance.”
Democratic Representative Hank Johnson of Georgia then spoke and used the moment to criticize those members of the committee who had not done more in regard to the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. He also condemned those who had supported the “big lie,” which is the baseless theory that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
“I regret the fact that many members of this committee voted against certifying the election results based on the ‘big lie,’ and they have continued to promote the ‘big lie’ and undermine public confidence in our government,” Johnson said.
He added that he felt it was “ironic” for members who “supported the insurrection” to now want to force the committee to pledge allegiance to the flag.
Representative David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat, also invoked the attack on the Capitol during the meeting. He said he would support Gaetz’s amendment if it contained a provision that would restrict “anyone who supported insurrection” from leading the pledge.
Gaetz later posted a video clip of the heated exchange on Twitter. In the caption for his post, he wrote: “Why does patriotism make Democrats so heated?”