Trump is Hiding from January 6th: America Should Never Forget It
Despite attempts by Trump and the GOP to rewrite the story on January 6th, the American people must never forget the threat their movement…
Despite attempts by Trump and the GOP to rewrite the story on January 6th, the American people must never forget the threat their movement poses.
Keeping track of an increasingly complicated political field can be difficult with the election in full swing and the polls showing a tight race. Media attention given to debates quickly turns to rallies, scandals, and polls. However, it is in these complicated times that we should always remember what is at stake in the upcoming election: the future of our country and the consequences of a violent attempt to overturn the will of the people must be remembered.
Running From The Past
Despite blatantly encouraging an attack on the Capitol through his lies, former President Trump has repeatedly attempted to avoid the consequences of what happened that day. All the while, he has continued to stump for the rioters who attacked the nation’s most powerful legislative body. In a recent piece, The New York Times’ Charles Homans and Alan Feuer detail the effort by Trump to both stay true to the people he motivated to attack the Capitol while also avoiding the inevitable results of their radicalism.
For years, Mr. Trump has helped craft an alternate history of that day, one in which the violent attack was a “love fest,” the jailed rioters were “hostages” and their prosecution was a part of a larger story of persecution — of both Mr. Trump and his supporters — that has been at the core of his argument for a return to the presidency.
But as he courts voters beyond his loyal base ahead of the November election, he and his campaign have engaged in an awkward push and pull over how closely to associate with the riot’s legacy. A recording of jailed Jan. 6 defendants singing the national anthem no longer plays at his rallies. When some defendants, including a man whom federal prosecutors have described as a “white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer,” gathered at Mr. Trump’s Bedminster golf club for a fund-raiser, the former president, who has attended similar events, sent his support in a video message instead.
“Our hearts are with you,” Mr. Trump said in the video. “Our soul is with you.”
The former president’s close-but-not-too-close relationship with the Jan. 6 cause is a tacit acknowledgment of his personal attachment to an issue with questionable political benefits, and of the country’s stark partisan divide over the Capitol riot, a divide largely of Mr. Trump’s own making.
Despite willingly promoting their cause, even as many of these rioters are being prosecuted at record numbers, the former President is trying to have the best of both worlds where he can hold onto his victim-hood complex while also keeping the actual people who might undermine his campaign at arm’s length. Nobody should be surprised that someone as deceptive as Trump is also willing to throw the very people who fought for him under the bus.
The Dangers of Forgetting
While the Harris campaign has not made January 6th the centerpiece of her attack on Trump as Biden previously did, there is still a need to remember and evaluate what happened. For the first time in decades, the United States failed to ensure a transfer of power occurred without violence. The rioters assaulted nearly 140 officers, and at least one person was killed in a confrontation with police.
The result of the attack was not only tied to the destruction of property but also to the serious threat to the well-being of duly elected members of the House and Senate, along with then-Vice-President Mike Pence. This sounds abstract and, to some, not that worrying, as politicians are rarely seen in a good light. However, it is worth reiterating just how important those officials are not only because of their inherent dignity as human beings, which should be enough in and of itself to change hearts and minds, but also worth noting that several of the people whose lives were threatened that day were in the presidential line of succession.
Under the line of succession, if the President is in any way incapacitated, the Vice-President takes charge of the executive functions of the federal government, but in the event of the Vice-President being incapacitated or, worse, killed, the Speaker of the House takes the job.
In the case of January 6th, then Vice-President Mike Pence and then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi were present in the Capitol building when Trump’s supporters attacked the Capitol. Even the backup to these two people, The President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Senator Chuck Grassley, was present at the Capitol when it was stormed. If anything had happened to either of these figures, not only would it be a travesty in its own right, but it would send a message that access to the most powerful executive position in the country can be seized by violence and usurpation.
It is not unreasonable or even partisan to say that our nation’s security and stability were threatened that day, and Trump’s failure to acknowledge his responsibility for the lies he propagated that day should be disqualifying. If America is to move forward, not only does Trump need to lose this election, but he must also be forced to face the full power of the law for his involvement and his cowardice. America must never forget when its own citizens tried to destroy the peaceful transfer of power.
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Originally published at https://theprogressiveamerican.com on September 14, 2024.