For those who are not members of the MAGA crowd, it might sound ludicrous to propose that President Joe Biden extend a blanket pardon to Donald Trump, including for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021. It would excuse a man who has taken no responsibility for his role in the insurrection. But he did play a role, and that’s the reason to do it.
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There’s a battle in the United States for “historical memory.” Trump, his party and his supporters are on the side of revisionist history. To them, the rioters are “patriots.” The criminals who stalked the halls of Congress hunting for lawmakers are “hostages.”
The mob that stormed the Capitol, at Trump’s direction, was, in fact, engaged in a blatant attempt to nullify the results of the 2020 election and to harm members of Congress and the vice president. This was an attack on American democracy, incited by a leader with authoritarian tendencies — and recorded on video.
There’s no evidence that this effort to rewrite history will wane. In fact, Trump may even extend his own presidential pardons to those involved in the attack.
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This is why it’s critical for Biden to establish a record of facts. Accepting a pardon does not technically mean accepting guilt. Trump could even outright reject it. But if he accepts it, or doesn’t turn it down, the document will memorialize the truth.
Trump would have plenty of reasons to take Biden’s gift. A pardon would certainly protect Trump from any federal prosecution once he left office.
Another reason Trump should like this, if not be grateful for it, is that it would enable him to devote all of his administration’s attention to governing instead of seeking revenge and retribution against his enemies. He will have a full plate of pressing national security and domestic problems to address. A “normal” president (which Trump was not in his first term, and which he now has a fresh start to become) would be looking ahead to his historical legacy and reputation, and perhaps strengthening the party that he has been sculpting successfully in his own image.
Recall the pardoning of Richard M. Nixon. The pardoning of Trump should be announced and remembered in the same way. Nixon resigned from office as the House of Representatives was poised to consider and pass three articles of impeachment against him, approved with strong bipartisan support by the House Judiciary Committee, for his role related to the Watergate burglary and coverup effort. Sen. Barry Goldwater (Arizona) and other Republican leaders made it directly clear to Nixon that he would be impeached and convicted. There was no doubt about his guilt from the Watergate tapes. Lawmakers did not urge him directly to resign, but he got the message and resigned. Gerald Ford made the controversial decision to give Nixon a blanket pardon for any crimes he committed while he was president. Ford may have done this out of friendship, but he wanted the nation to end this tragic situation and move on — which it did. The Nixon pardon has long been associated with his guilt, and no one has made a concerted attempt to rewrite this history.
We have, however, seen the rewriting of U.S. history before, which had long-term consequences. This occurred with the South’s establishing its own version of the history of the Civil War. Historians have written much about this, and it was front and center in the fight over Confederate monuments. Southerners memorialized the Civil War as the valiantly fought “Lost Cause” (or as other heroic-sounding names). They long looked fondly on the Confederacy and downplayed or distorted the role and nature of slavery — the reason for the war. They emphasized stories about brave soldiers and the (White) people of the South. Along with the end of Reconstruction and Jim Crow policies, this version of history suppressed racial and civil rights issues for decades.
We cannot let a false history of the Jan. 6 attack go unchallenged. The stakes are too high.
Make sense of the latest news and debates with our daily newsletter
There’s a battle in the United States for “historical memory.” Trump, his party and his supporters are on the side of revisionist history. To them, the rioters are “patriots.” The criminals who stalked the halls of Congress hunting for lawmakers are “hostages.”
The mob that stormed the Capitol, at Trump’s direction, was, in fact, engaged in a blatant attempt to nullify the results of the 2020 election and to harm members of Congress and the vice president. This was an attack on American democracy, incited by a leader with authoritarian tendencies — and recorded on video.
There’s no evidence that this effort to rewrite history will wane. In fact, Trump may even extend his own presidential pardons to those involved in the attack.
🎤
Follow Opinions on the news
This is why it’s critical for Biden to establish a record of facts. Accepting a pardon does not technically mean accepting guilt. Trump could even outright reject it. But if he accepts it, or doesn’t turn it down, the document will memorialize the truth.
Trump would have plenty of reasons to take Biden’s gift. A pardon would certainly protect Trump from any federal prosecution once he left office.
Another reason Trump should like this, if not be grateful for it, is that it would enable him to devote all of his administration’s attention to governing instead of seeking revenge and retribution against his enemies. He will have a full plate of pressing national security and domestic problems to address. A “normal” president (which Trump was not in his first term, and which he now has a fresh start to become) would be looking ahead to his historical legacy and reputation, and perhaps strengthening the party that he has been sculpting successfully in his own image.
Recall the pardoning of Richard M. Nixon. The pardoning of Trump should be announced and remembered in the same way. Nixon resigned from office as the House of Representatives was poised to consider and pass three articles of impeachment against him, approved with strong bipartisan support by the House Judiciary Committee, for his role related to the Watergate burglary and coverup effort. Sen. Barry Goldwater (Arizona) and other Republican leaders made it directly clear to Nixon that he would be impeached and convicted. There was no doubt about his guilt from the Watergate tapes. Lawmakers did not urge him directly to resign, but he got the message and resigned. Gerald Ford made the controversial decision to give Nixon a blanket pardon for any crimes he committed while he was president. Ford may have done this out of friendship, but he wanted the nation to end this tragic situation and move on — which it did. The Nixon pardon has long been associated with his guilt, and no one has made a concerted attempt to rewrite this history.
We have, however, seen the rewriting of U.S. history before, which had long-term consequences. This occurred with the South’s establishing its own version of the history of the Civil War. Historians have written much about this, and it was front and center in the fight over Confederate monuments. Southerners memorialized the Civil War as the valiantly fought “Lost Cause” (or as other heroic-sounding names). They long looked fondly on the Confederacy and downplayed or distorted the role and nature of slavery — the reason for the war. They emphasized stories about brave soldiers and the (White) people of the South. Along with the end of Reconstruction and Jim Crow policies, this version of history suppressed racial and civil rights issues for decades.
We cannot let a false history of the Jan. 6 attack go unchallenged. The stakes are too high.
