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Former President Trump
Donald TrumpYoungkin is releasing a new ad seeking to tie McAuliffe to Trump in the race for governors of Virginia. persevere in his attempts to rewrite the history of the January 6 uprising on the United States Capitol.
It is an effort that is helped by its political and media allies.
It also threatens to reignite its supporters, ruin any chance of anything resembling a national consensus on the riot, and throwing new gas on the fires of political tribalism.
A poll by The Economist and YouGov released last week underscored the depth of the split.
Fifty-two percent of Americans said Trump bore “much” or “part” of the responsibility for the storming of Capitol Hill. But 30% of adults – and 64% of Republicans – said he was wearing “none”.
The vigor of Trump’s efforts to influence public perceptions of the insurgency is an indirect recognition that the events of January 6 have caused him lasting political damage.
But the way he tries to lessen the harm done to himself – by erasing reality and replacing it with a more forgiving narrative – poses deeper problems for the nation’s politics.
The last example came in an interview with Maria bartiromo
Maria Sara BartiromoTrump: Tech giants “immune from so many different things, but they are not immune from trial” Trump takes credit for billionaires’ race to space Tucker Carlson says that the NSA leaked private emails to reporters MORE from Fox News Channel airs Sunday.
Trump asserted, without contradiction from Bartiromo, that there had been a “love party” between the police and “the people who went to Capitol Hill.”
In fact, around 140 police officers were injured in protracted violent clashes – clashes of which there is ample video evidence.
The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple noted Monday – citing CBS News – that more than 50 people have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious injury to an officer.
During other parts of his interview, Trump claimed that his speech near the White House shortly before the riot was “light.”
In fact, Trump used those remarks to insist that the presidential election was stolen from him and told his supporters, “If you don’t fight like hell, you won’t have a country.
The speech was one of the main reasons Trump became the only president in history to be impeached twice. Ten House Republicans voted to impeach Trump for “inciting insurgency.”
Trump’s claims in the Fox News interview also included innuendo about the death of Ashli Babbitt, the rioter who was shot and killed near the House chamber.
Trump hinted that whoever shot Babbitt was the security chief of a senior Democratic official and that anonymous forces were “protecting” that person. He provided no evidence to support either charge.
Critics of Trump, including some within the GOP, see an element of desperation – and danger – in his attempts to shirk his own guilt.
“As the truth becomes clearer and more obvious, his lies get bigger and more absurd,” the former rep said. Barbara comstock
Barbara Jean ComstockFormer GOP Representative Calls Party to Go From “Patron Saint of Sore Losers” Trump The Hill’s Morning Report – Featured by Facebook – Biden Mission Abroad: Reward Friends, Coerce Opponents The Memo: Trump Seizes spotlight to distract from defeat MORE (R-Va.) Said this column. “You think there is a bottom, and it keeps digging.”
Comstock, a vigorous critic of Trump, is also a friend of Rep. Liz cheney
Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn Cheney Jan.6 insurgency probe to resuscitate democracy Painful losers: Trump and Netanyahu have a lot in common More than 535 charged six months after Jan.6 riot: DOJ MORE (Wyo.), Who is possibly the former president’s most ardent enemy among the Republican elected officials on Capitol Hill.
Cheney recently accepted an invitation from the President Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi Photos of the Week: Therapy Dog, Surfside Memorial, and Chinese Dancers Jan 6 Insurgency Inquiry to Resurrect Democracy Hillicon Valley: Warren Calls on SEC to Take a Closer Look at Cryptocurrency Exchanges | Maryland Town Taken Offline in Massive Ransomware Attack | Huawei hires three new PLUS lobbying firms (D-Calif.) To sit on the special House committee that will investigate the riot.
Comstock said she herself would have preferred an independent commission, but noted that even a select committee would be able to subpoena information – something she expects to condemn Trump.
“Everything he says goes against the facts that we can see before us,” Comstock said.
Liz Mair, a Republican strategist and other Trump critic, said she believed Trump “must on some level” understand the magnitude of January 6.
“Otherwise, he wouldn’t try to rewrite history,” she added.
But Mair also claimed that it was unlikely that people would have changed their minds about January 6 one way or another.
“There are no new converts to make him blameless. Whatever people’s opinions are on January 6, I think that’s still their point of view now, ”she said. “So either they either don’t think he bears the responsibility or don’t think it was that bad, or there are people who were absolutely horrified by what they saw and no ‘explanation’ is right. distract from what they saw. on camera. “
There is also a related question, as to what extent Trump’s views as a whole are likely to change at this point.
Those who hate him and those who love him are largely fixed in their opinions – and anecdotal evidence suggests that there are many Americans who can be relieved that they don’t have to think about him on a daily basis.
But Trump at least continues to pitch the idea of a presidential bid in 2024.
When Republicans begin to think about their choices in this regard, they will have to decide what they think of a man who, for many Americans, still bears the mark of one of the nation’s darkest final days.
“His ego is just forcing him to rewrite the history of January 6,” said Allan Lichtman, professor of history at the American University. “But there’s no way he’s building a majority coalition around those kinds of grievances.”
These grievances, however, can be dangerous in themselves.
The Memo is a column reported by Niall Stanage
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