Milwaukee — Republican Rep. Corey Mills of Florida floated the idea of a “J13” committee modeled after the Democratic January 6th Committee, in response to anti-Trump rhetoric from Democrats in the lead-up to the assassination attempt on the 45th president.
“I think we need to look at the hypocrisy here. When President Trump said ‘go home in peace’ on January 6th, he was upset about things. He has no control over the actions of evil people and people who intend to do physical harm. Yet they are still using the J6 argument as a way to mock him and smear the Republican Party,” Mills told Fox News Digital at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“Well, what about the other things Rep. Maxine Waters has said in the past: ‘Face your elected officials,'” he said, paraphrasing comments made by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., in 2018 encouraging her supporters to harass then-President Donald Trump.
“‘We’re going to zero in on Trump,'” he said, paraphrasing comments President Biden made to donors shortly before the attempted assassination of Trump this month at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Biden retracted the comments after Trump was shot in the ear in Pennsylvania.
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Rep. Corey Mills, R-Fla., attends a press conference at the Capitol Visitor’s Center on Nov. 17, 2022, about a resolution calling on the Biden administration to provide information about funding to Ukraine. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Mills asked whether these comments also constitute incitement to violence and whether Democratic politicians would face a select committee similar to the J6 committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.
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“Are they going to go ahead and set up a task force like J13, like we did with J6, and have a tit-for-tat battle about how this works? I think we need to understand that the game they’re continuing, this idea of hyper-polarizing our political system, is actually their own fault, and not the fault of the Republicans who are trying to further stifle it. They’re using our government as a weapon to attack the opposition.”
President Biden spoke at a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
On the first day of the convention on Monday, Trump spoke to J.D. Vance. As his running mateMills praised the freshman Ohio senator as a strong supporter of President Trump’s America First policies.
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The Florida congressman added that Vance’s blue-collar background resonates similarly to his own upbringing and will have a lot to say to voters.
U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance and his wife, Usha Chirukuri Vance, accept their vice presidential nomination during the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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“I grew up in a broken home with drug addiction, substance abuse and stuff like that, and it tore our family apart,” Mills said. “My dad was in prison, my mom was in prison, I was raised by my grandparents, and we lived in poverty. I remember surviving on like $6,800 a year, and we believed we had to hunt and fish.”
Former President Trump, Republican presidential nominee, and Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance react during the first day of the Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Seeger)
Mills argued that Vance’s background as a working-class native before he was named Trump’s running mate would resonate with many Americans.
“what [Vance] What this quote represents is the fact that the socio-economic background that you’re born into doesn’t define you. What makes America great is this idea of American exceptionalism, this idea that we’re going to be a great nation is equal opportunity. The fact that there’s no glass ceiling. You don’t have to be born into a traditional family or into generational wealth. You can make it for yourself through your own hard work and dedication and commitment.
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“His youth, the fact that he’s an outsider who hasn’t yet been corrupted by the political world, his upbringing, I think in a lot of ways it contrasts with what President Trump is doing and in a lot of ways it’s also complementary,” Mills said.
