Democrats weighed the unfitness of President-elect Donald Trump in the years following the mob on January 6, but now that voters will still vote him into company, party leadership must decide what to say.
For Republican strategist John Feehery, the elections of the Jan. 6 rebellion were not “potent” for Democrats despite prime-time people trials by the Jan. 6 commission into the event, during which Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt was shot by police and 174 officers were injured, with some committing murder in the month after.
” Complete waste of time and energy for the Democrats”, Feehery told the Washington Examiner. They wasted time talking about a mostly peaceful protest that really only resonated with those who watched MSNBC rather than spending time talking about issues that the electorates cared about.
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Still, exit polling from last year’s election found 34 % of respondents indicating that democracy was their top concern, whereas 31 % said the economy mattered to them most, according to NBC.
Democrats claimed that Trump posed a threat to the rule of law during the Capitol riot.
With their respective campaigns ‘ rhetoric regarding democracy and freedom, Presidents Joe Biden and then Vice President Kamala Harris attempted to appeal to that 34 %.
” Nearly 250 years ago, America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant”, Harris told a crowd at the Ellipse, the site of Trump’s Jan. 6 rally, the week before Election Day. ” These United States of America, we are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators”.
Nonetheless, Trump trounced his way to a 312-226 Electoral College win, pulling in a 2.3 million popular vote margin over Harris. On Monday, the fourth anniversary of the Capitol riot, those results will be released.
Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, though she has not conducted polling recently, contended that “right after the election”, the Jan. 6 riot “was still]politically ] potent with Democrats”.
” Voters generally still want accountability”, Lake told the Washington Examiner. They were also enthralled about pardoning the six people who had been found guilty of crimes on January 6.
Additionally, David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, claimed that the political potency of the riot on January 6 had “faded over time.”
” In the January 2021 Suffolk-USA Today national poll released after the attack, 70 % of voters said the rioters were criminals, 24 % said they went too far but had a point, and 2 % believed they acted appropriately”, Paleologos told the Washington Examiner. ” By the end of 2023, less than half ( 48 % ) called the perpetrators criminals while 44 % believed they had a point or acted appropriately”.
” By 2024, the top two issues on the minds of voters were the economy and immigration, which were overwhelming winners for Donald Trump, while Jan. 6, 2021, became a footnote”, Paleologos added.
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In a briefing last week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to questions about Biden’s plans for Jan. 6. She responded that “nothing has changed” regarding his position on the riot.
” This is a president that has spoken multiple times in the last four years and beyond about democracy, the importance of democracy, protecting our democracy, and so I would expect that he will continue to be steadfast on that”, Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday.
However, Biden’s message will focus on the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans, which will be followed by a Monday city visit.
Biden did highlight the work of the House Jan. 6 committee, which was led by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS ) and former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, last week by awarding them Presidential Citizens Medals at the White House, though he may be spending the day in New Orleans before his trips to California and Italy later in the week.
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” Together, you embody, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, the central truth of our great nation”, Biden told the crowd gathered for the ceremony on Thursday. ” Our democracy begins and ends with the duties of citizenship. That’s our work for the ages. That’s what all of you, I mean this, all of you embody”.
A letter drive for police officers was organized at or called to the riot on January 6th, according to former Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Trump critic.
We must take a moment to reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women who stood in harm’s way to defend our nation that day, according to Country First’s email as we approach the fourth anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol and our democracy. While some, like Donald Trump, claim to be” Back the Blue,” their actions tell a different story:” It is not supportive of them, but pardoning rioters dishonors them.”
For Trump’s part, Jan. 6 will continue to be a political hot button after he promised to pardon some of the 1, 572 defendants accused of the riot at the Capitol, of which more than 1, 251 have already been found guilty or pleaded guilty.
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” I’m going to be acting very quickly. First day”, Trump told NBC in December. ” They’ve been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open”.
In the same interview, Trump reiterated that “everybody” involved with the House Jan. 6 committee, including Thompson and Cheney, “honestly, they should go to jail for what they did”.
