Immediately after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, all corners of the political spectrum repudiated the mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters. Yet within days, prominent Republicans, party officials, conservative media voices and rank-and-file voters began making a rhetorical shift to try to downplay the group’s violent actions.
In one of the ultimate don’t-believe-your-eyes moments of the Trump era, these Republicans have retreated to the ranks of misinformation, claiming it was Black Lives Matter protesters and far-left groups like antifa who stormed the Capitol — in spite of the pro-Trump flags and QAnon symbology in the crowd. Others have argued that the attack was no worse than the rioting and looting in cities during the Black Lives Matter movement, often exaggerating the unrest last summer while minimizing a mob’s attempt to overturn an election.
ADVERTISING
The shift is revealing about how conspiracy theories, deflection and political incentives play off one another in Trump’s GOP. For a brief time, Republican officials seemed perhaps open to grappling with what their party’s leader had wrought — violence in the name of their Electoral College fight. But any window of reflection now seems to be closing as Republicans try to pass blame and to compare last summer’s lawlessness, which was condemned by Democrats, to an attack on Congress, which was inspired by Trump.
“The violence at the Capitol was shameful,” Rudy Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, tweeted at 6:55 a.m. the morning after the attack. “Our movement values respect for law and order and for the police.”
But now, in a new video titled “What Really Happened on January 6th?,” Giuliani is among those who are back to emphasizing conspiracy theories.
“The riot was preplanned,” said Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City. “This was an attempt to slander Trump.” He added, “The evidence is coming out.”
In one of the ultimate don’t-believe-your-eyes moments of the Trump era, these Republicans have retreated to the ranks of misinformation, claiming it was Black Lives Matter protesters and far-left groups like antifa who stormed the Capitol — in spite of the pro-Trump flags and QAnon symbology in the crowd. Others have argued that the attack was no worse than the rioting and looting in cities during the Black Lives Matter movement, often exaggerating the unrest last summer while minimizing a mob’s attempt to overturn an election.
ADVERTISING
The shift is revealing about how conspiracy theories, deflection and political incentives play off one another in Trump’s GOP. For a brief time, Republican officials seemed perhaps open to grappling with what their party’s leader had wrought — violence in the name of their Electoral College fight. But any window of reflection now seems to be closing as Republicans try to pass blame and to compare last summer’s lawlessness, which was condemned by Democrats, to an attack on Congress, which was inspired by Trump.
“The violence at the Capitol was shameful,” Rudy Giuliani, the president’s lawyer, tweeted at 6:55 a.m. the morning after the attack. “Our movement values respect for law and order and for the police.”
But now, in a new video titled “What Really Happened on January 6th?,” Giuliani is among those who are back to emphasizing conspiracy theories.
“The riot was preplanned,” said Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City. “This was an attempt to slander Trump.” He added, “The evidence is coming out.”
Trump loyalists, including Giuliani, are spreading misinformation about Capitol riot: ‘Antifa and liberal progressives as well as Black Lives Matter’
President Trump's loyalists are relying on conspiracy theories and drawing false equivalence with the summer's racial protests and blaming outside agitators for the Capitol riot.
www.chicagotribune.com