Thursday's Jan. 6th committee hearing on the Capitol riots featured Rusty Bowers, a seemingly principled man who stood up to former President Donald Trump's demands to overturn the 2020 election results. Finally, a Republican stood up to Trump and told the world the truth. Bowers, the Arizona House Speaker, was widely praised for his unwavering testimony as he refused to lie for the former President. What a guy. A Republican that we can admire spoke truth to power.

And then, he told the Associated Press today that he would vote for Trump again.

Bowers said efforts by Trump's backers have harmed the nation, undercut trust in elections and the right of people to vote their conscience.

"I just think it is horrendous. It's terrible," Bowers said. "The result of throwing the pebble in the pond, the reverberations across the pond, have, I think, been very destructive."

Here it is:

But while Bowers said the efforts by Giuliani and other Trump backers have been hurtful, he does not levy any criticism on Trump directly and would support him if he were on the ballot.

"If he is the nominee, if he was up against Biden, I'd vote for him again," Bowers said. "Simply because what he did the first time, before COVID, was so good for the county. In my view it was great."

So, he called Trump a liar, and said that his efforts to overturn the election were dangerous and unconstitutional, but because the former reality show star has an R next to his name, he'd vote for him again.

In the same interview, Bowers said, "I'm appalled at what I saw. I don't mind their having these hearings. I don't mind. I think it illuminates something we need to see big time, and take stock of ourselves. And I hope it would sober us."

He's not fully sober yet, apparently. He was so close, though! Trump, of course, lashed out at Bowers yesterday.