As America approaches three years since a mob stormed the Capitol, more Americans are hearing revisionist history woven into political dialogue – an alarming indication of just how distorted reality can be for large portions of its populace.
A recent Washington Post-University of Maryland poll demonstrates this trend by showing how Republicans increasingly sympathize with rioters.
Threats
As the third anniversary of a violent mob’s storming of the Capitol draws near, President Joe Biden is seeking to frame it as an increasingly harmful and growing threat to democracy. Yet according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll conducted shortly before this, many Republicans do not subscribe to his argument.
That should come as no surprise; among the numerous conspiracy theories surrounding January 6, there have been repeated calls to reveal who are investigating those organizing the riot and their lawyers; allegations that an FBI frame job constitutes part of a politically-driven “witch hunt;” and allegations that corrupt and illegal forces conspired to steal the 2020 election from legitimate voters.
Jon Lewis is a research fellow with the George Washington Program on Extremism who studies homegrown violent extremism and domestic anti-government movements like Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. He contributed two major reports on Capitol Hill siege events while also overseeing its public tracker of federal cases arising from participants involvement on Jan. 6.
Persecutions
Persecutions has long been an influential political tool. It draws out our defensive human instincts to support those suffering and stand in solidarity, stirring righteous indignation in many people. Be it real persecution by dictators, such as with whole populations being brutally suppressed under them; or fake persecution such as China’s reeducation camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities such as Uyghurs in China reeducation camps – persecution can have serious repercussions for American politics.
Evangelicals first became aware of this issue in the 1980s, when they embraced international human rights; this allowed them to both challenge and reinforce their commitment to protecting other Christians from oppression. Persecution has become a central theme in evangelical representations of global south regions; specifically including direct and covert forms of repression such as censorship, surveillance abuse and stripping away citizenry rights.
Though serious, the Jan. 6 case has become an effective political weapon for Republicans who use it to rally their base before the 2024 elections. They have used it as an opportunity to change narrative about Trump’s election subversion trial into something they can use as part of a campaign strategy designed to convince disgruntled voters they support their side of politics.
Media Coverage
Even as Washington and much of the nation has been divided along party lines, some Americans still remember Jan. 6 as a dark day in American history. They share in outrage at a series of events including an 18th Street Riot which claimed nine lives before leading to many arrests for participating in it.
The anniversary is expected to bring renewed focus to the riot, its perpetrators, and prosecution’s cases against them. Prosecution attorneys could face new challenges from defense attorneys representing high-profile defendants; there could also be fresh conspiracy theories such as allegations that Antifa and other groups assisted the FBI in staging it all together.
President Joe Biden plans to make these claims clear in a speech Saturday near Valley Forge, the site where George Washington rallied his army during the Revolutionary War. Biden will use this address, part of his campaign for reelection, to portray President Donald Trump as an obstacle to democracy.
Responses
Since January 6th, Trump has demanded of his lawyers that they incorporate various conspiracy theories into court filings and court performances at trial, including claims that anti-Trump elements within the FBI framed him and MAGA protesters; anarchists were involved in attacking Capitol; anarchists attacked it; anarchists participated in attacking it; there really was widespread election fraud across swing states and heavily Democratic urban areas — something Trump has long denied was happening despite ample evidence to the contrary.
As the third anniversary of the siege approaches, a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll indicates that most Americans – both Democrats and independents alike – consider Jan. 6 an attack on democracy which should not be forgotten. This fits with Biden’s strategy to frame it as an assault on American ideals which could boost his chances of winning this fall’s Presidential Election.
But efforts aimed at weakening a federal case may backfire on those arrested and prosecuted – including Trump himself. For instance, California’s bar association recently voted to disbar a lawyer who has championed many of the rioters’ fabricated claims of fraud, while Colorado federal trial courts have taken similar actions.
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