GEORGIA – As a bill creating an independent commission to investigate the Capitol riot heads to the Senate, one Georgia congressman is publicly calling the riot a tourist visit.
CNN’s Gary Tuchman went to Andrew Clyde’s district to ask people there about that claim.
Georgia’s 9th Congressional District, in the northeastern part of the state, is one of the most conservative districts in the country. This past November, Clyde won his first term in Congress with 79 percent of the vote, so he’s popular there.
But what do Clyde’s supporters think about his comments regarding the insurrection looking like a normal tourist visit?
And the photos of him that have surfaced — one of him barricading the door during the attack, another with his mouth open in the midst of the danger?
Tuchman asked one constituent, “Let me ask you this. I’m going to show you this picture. This picture shows congressman Clyde helping to barricade the door to help keep people out of the chambers, the mob out of the US House of Representatives. That doesn’t look like a tourist visit, right?”
Constituent: “No, sure doesn’t.”
Tuchman: “That’s a tourist visit from hell.”
Constituent: “That’s right, he does his job. He does his job really good.”
Tuchman: “But when he says it’s a tourist visit, and you see him here helping to barricade the door, it doesn’t look like he’s telling the truth. What do you think?”
Constituent: “Well, I think you’re right about that.”
Tuchman: “So your congressman Clyde. I’m going to show you a close-up of his mouth open while it was all going on. Not running away, but he’s either yelling or scared or both. We can’t tell for sure.” // “And now, he’s saying, though, that there was no insurrection. It was like a normal tourist visit. You voted for him; does that disappoint you?”
Constituent: “Absolutely. Yeah. But everybody, as far as humanity goes, people are constantly counter-intuitive relative to what they say.”
Tuchman: “But do you think he is doing it for political gain, that he doesn’t want to anger the former president of the united states who still has a lot of influence, and he’s not being honest and honorable?”
Constituent: “I would say anybody in politics is apt to do the same thing.”
Even a woman in Clyde’s district who still supports him said, “I haven’t the slightest idea why politicians say what they say.”
Tuchman: “But you agree that maybe he’s a little misleading with how he said it?”
She replied, “He shouldn’t say that.”
Tuchman: “About the tourist visit?”
Constituent: “Yeah.”
We talked with quite a few Clyde voters who say they’re disappointed in him.
Constituent: “I don’t agree with him at all.”
And no supporter was more disappointed than one man in particular.
Tuchman: “Congressman Clyde said there was no insurrection, that it was a tourist visit.”
Constituent: “That’s horsesh**….it’s baloney. Not true.”
Tuchman: “So you disagree with your congressman? And you voted for him.”
Constituent “Yeah. Unfortunately.”
But most of the Clyde voters were willing to cut him a break. What happened this past November is one of the reasons why.
Tuchman: “It was dangerous. People were killed. People were hurt. Does that bother you that he’s calling it a tourist visit?”
Constituent: “Not, that’s his, that’s his opinion.”
Tuchman: “That doesn’t bother though?”
Constituent: “There are a lot of other things that bother me, like the results of the election.”
The bill that would create an independent commission to investigate the Capitol riot faces an uncertain future in the Senate after just 35 Republicans supported it in the House.
It needs ten Republicans and all Democrats to pass the Senate. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he doesn’t support the measure, but he’s not saying whether he’ll urge his party members to vote against it.
