“If we lose the House, this is no joke -- January 6 was a trial run, and a lot of people don’t seem to understand that,” the New York Democrat said at a town hall in Queens on Wednesday.
“It was a trial run, and they’re going to come back if they win the House,” she continued. “The only reason it wasn’t worse is that Democrats had the House, and they didn’t have the votes.”
“If they take the House, then they have the votes not to authorize and legitimize the presidential election, whatever the results are. So this is very serious,” added Ocasio-Cortez.
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With a House Select Committee still probing the riot and Donald Trump’s potential role in the violence, the subject will likely loom large on the campaign trail ahead of the November mid-term elections - which will determine which party will control Congress for the remainder of President Joe Biden’s term.
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The January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol unfolded when a mob of Trump loyalists attacked the seat of Congress as lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.
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So far, more than 800 individuals have been criminally charged in connection with the riot.
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In the House, 139 Republicans voted against approving the results of the 2020 election, well short of the 218 needed for a majority.
However, Democrats currently hold a narrow majority in both houses of Congress and would need to lose just half a dozen House seats in November for the GOP to gain control.
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Recent polls show Republicans with an edge ahead of the election, with the RCP average of a generic congressional ballot placing the GOP ahead by 3.5 points.
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Democrats seem certain to pound on the subject of the January 6 riot ahead of the election, protesting their base with reminders of the confusion caused by Trump’s supporters.
Political divisions near all-time highs, Democrats seem unlikely to sway many Republican voters by reminding them of the riot.
A recent poll found that most Republican respondents believe the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was an “act of patriotism.”
Both GOP and Democrat voters are worried the other will act to overturn an election if it doesn’t work out in their party’s favor.
And both sides agree the United States and its democracy are in a dire plight, according to the poll published by The New Republic late last week that saw 74 percent of respondents say the American political system is “threatened.”