MANSFIELD — U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs said Monday that 2020 has been “one helluva year so far and we’re not halfway through it yet.”
The conservative from Holmes County, whose 7th House District includes parts of Richland and Knox counties, told local Republicans during their monthly luncheon to “hold onto your seats … it’s going to be wild” before November’s presidential election.
In terms of a rocky first five months of the year, Gibbs cited what he called the “impeachment hoax” of President Trump, the COVID-19 pandemic and growing Black Lives Matter protests across the nation after last week’s killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
“Who knows what else is going to come up?” asked the veteran lawmaker, initially elected to Congress in 2010.
Gibbs said the video showing a police officer with his knee on Floyd’s neck was “appalling” and that “justice needs to be served.”
He said he supports peaceful protests of the police actions, but added he felt outside instigators are taking advantage of the situation with an organized and violent effort.
“Riots all over the country. Businesses were just allowed to be re-opened after the virus and now they are under attack and looted. This can’t happen in this country. It just can’t be tolerated,” Gibbs said.
“If you don’t stamp it out quickly, it just gets worse,” he said.
Gibbs said the year started with the “Russian collusion” hoax that led to Trump’s impeachment by the House and acquittal in the Senate with votes in both bodies largely following political party lines.
Gibbs said mounting evidence, including emails, texts and witness testimony, continues to be released showing the investigation into Trump and his administration by the previous administration was improper from the beginning, including leaders in the FBI and CIA.
“The other sides (Democrats) heads’ are exploding because they know they are in trouble,” Gibbs said.
“I have been saying this and I will say it again, I believe this going to come down, the facts are going to come out, and someday, we’re gonna know this was the largest scandal in the history of this country. It was a coup to take out a duly-elected president of the United States,” Gibbs said.
It was the local GOP’s first monthly meeting since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The next luncheon will be July 13.
