U.S. Can't Heal Until Insurrectionists Are Held Accountable, Says Rep. Sara Jacobs

As the Republican Party grapples with its identity in the wake of former President Donald Trump's election loss and the subsequent fallout from elected officials in the party who continue to spew conspiracy theories and unfounded allegations, Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif. 53rd District), said it's time for the GOP to clean house and be on the right side of history.

"I know that there are many members of the Republican Party who really think that what Representative [Marjorie Taylor] Greene has said and done is unacceptable, and I'm hoping that their voices will be the loudest ones and will drown out the other part of their party," Jacobs told Cheddar. "But this is really a fight that the Republicans need to have internally, and I'm hopeful that the right side will win out."

Newly-elected Rep. Greene, who is often seen sporting a "Trump Won" face mask, has become a source of the divide within the Republican Party. Greene previously claimed that school shootings, like the one in Parkland, Fla., and the 9/11 terror attacks were false flags.

Jacobs has since introduced a resolution calling for the censure of Greene and demands that the Georgia representative resign from her post as her views go "beyond the realm of normal political disagreement," she said.

When it comes to accountability, Jacobs said she isn't just gunning for Greene and her Republican cohorts. She also fully supports the continued efforts to convict former President Donald Trump in his upcoming impeachment trial, saying that the only way forward for the country is to hold those "who incited, encouraged, or committed" violence in his name responsible for their actions.

While Democrats currently hold power in both legislative houses and the White House, Jacobs advocated that her party must get to work quickly so that when midterm elections come around, voters aren't just met with lip service but rather a proven track record of actions.

"As I've been advocating internally in our caucus conversations and with the Biden administration, we need to make sure that we are immediately passing this COVID relief bill and that we're including as much as possible that will make people immediately feel like their life is better because Democrats are in control, that things are getting better," she said.

Among steps Democrats need to take, according to the representative, is clamping down on social media sites and the spread of misinformation. A study by MIT in October found that fake news is 70 percent more likely to be retweeted on Twitter than actual facts. Jacobs noted that the issue is "incredibly critical."

"My background is working in conflict setting and post-complex stabilization and I know that we often see the kinds of violence that we see in the United States when you have these new kinds of communication technologies," she explained. "And so, I think we need to make sure we are creating foundational rules for social media, that we're doing what we need to do so that we're not incentivizing the kind of information that creates the biggest reaction and because we know this is where most people are getting these conspiracy theories and are getting radicalized." 

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