GOP Rep. Andrew Clyde defends comparison of Jan. 6 riot to "tourists"

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) defended comments made during a House committee hearing in which he compared the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot to a "normal visit."

The big picture: In a heated back-and-forth during a Rules Committee meeting on Tuesday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who sits on the select committee investigating the attack, pressed Clyde on whether he had watched the officers' testimony earlier in the day.

• Clyde said that question was “absolutely irrelevant” to the matter in front of the Rules Committee.
• When asked about his comparison of the Jan. 6 attack to a "normal tourist visit," Clyde said, "I stand by that exact statement as I said it."

What they're saying: “We are here to discuss this amendment … and you are obviously not interested in that. You want to make this another Jan. 6 hearing, and it’s not. This is the rules committee.” Clyde said

• "He refuses to say whether or not he heard the Capitol officers who risked their lives and have experienced traumatic medical injuries," Raskin said. "That’s his prerogative."