‘I Don’t Have That Affliction’: Tapper Reacts to Democrat Saying She Has ‘Persistent Optimism’ During Discussion of House GOP

Jake Tapper questioned Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) of the Jan. 6 committee about whether the panel’s legislative recommendations are viable, considering Republicans are about to retake the House.

The committee released an 845-page report on Thursday night detailing their findings about the 2021 Capitol insurrection where Donald Trump supporters stormed the building to try to keep him in power after he claimed the 2020 election was stolen. One of the report’s recommendations is for Congress to bar him from running for president again. Trump declared his candidacy for 2024 in November.

The report also makes several recommendations, including legislative remedies the committee says could help avoid another Jan. 6-style fiasco.

“Besides barring Trump from office, your report has 10 other recommendations, including reforming the Electoral Count Act, which was passed as part of the spending bill a few hours ago, there are other recommendations where you call on Congress to act or amend laws,” Tapper said to Lofgren. “I guess my question is, isn’t it too late for that to happen, considering the new Republican-controlled House gets sworn in in 11 days?

“Well, we hope not, she replied. “I would hope that anybody who takes an oath to the Constitution would be interested in pursuing remedies that would make the country safer. We’re certainly disappointed that many of our Republican colleagues are still living in kind of a dreamworld. But I do think the Senate can press this and if we come up with something that’s solid and bipartisan in the Senate, there’s no reason to think that we can’t get something done in the House as well. We just did what the Electoral Count Act as you know.”

Tapper noted that legislation was passed by a Democratic-controlled House.

“Yeah, you did because Nancy Pelosi’s in charge of the House right now, but Kevin McCarthy in all likelihood will be in charge in the House in a week and a half,” he retorted. “And he voted to disenfranchise all of the people of Pennsylvania and Arizona based on those election lies after people died in the insurrection.”

“You’re right. It was inexcusable,” Lofgren conceded. “I just, I guess I suffer from a persistent optimism, especially around the holidays.”

“I don’t have that affliction,” he shot back.

Tapper moved on to discuss other aspects of the committee’s report.

Watch above via CNN.

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