As the United States prepares to face the somber anniversary of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, President Joe Biden will address the nation, with expectations that he will discuss the progress both law enforcement and the House select committee have made in bringing those responsible to justice, along with the need to heal the nation in order to preserve democracy. However, on that same date, both Donald Trump and his former adviser Steve Bannon will also address the nation, and their theme will be … different.
As Biden addresses the nation, so will Bannon and Trump. They’re highlighting the anniversary with very different intentions, aided by a right-wing media that has spent the last year attempting to turn a violent insurrection into a “false-flag” operation staged by the FBI, a peaceful protest infiltrated by antifa, or to simply deny it happened at all. That media has gone from being horrified at what was happening on the day itself to being wholly engaged in a gaslighting campaign that claims the agencies and committee attempting to investigate Jan. 6 are the real villains.
According to Axios, Trump is expected to spend his Jan. 6 anniversary playing a very familiar tune, as he claims that the House select committee’s attempts to sort out events leading up to the insurrection are a “witch hunt” being “staged by Nancy Pelosi.” Meanwhile, Bannon will dive wholeheartedly into the claims made by Tucker Carlson and his Patriot Purge faux documentary.
Biden will attempt to heal. Trump and Bannon will grind their heels into a gaping wound—one that they created—in a deliberate attempt to make things worse.
With the nation only two days away from the first anniversary of the most serious attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812, over 700 people have so far been charged in connection with the insurrection that broke through four lines of police barricades, smashed through doors and windows, and invaded the Capitol building while calling for the death of then-Vice President Mike Pence and legislators. The FBI reports that it is still seeking information on at least 300 more of those suspected of engaging in violent acts during the attack.
As the violence exploded outside the Capitol, a coup attempt was already underway inside the building, where more than 100 Republican legislators were working with Trump in a scheme to set aside the results of the 2020 election. Over the past year, it’s become clear that Trump’s team of advisers, along with Republican insiders and GOP members of Congress, engaged in a plan to make knowingly false claims about election fraud, use those claims as a pretext for refusing to acknowledge electoral votes from states won by Biden, and restore Trump to power through a variety of unconstitutional maneuvers—including the use of the military.
All of this is being investigated by a select committee appointed by the House, which has already issued a series of subpoenas to those involved in Trump’s coup attempt. Bannon has already been indicted on federal charges of contempt for his refusal to cooperate with that investigation.
However, Bannon isn’t behind bars. On Jan. 6, he will be behind a microphone, delivering “a special edition of his podcast” with antisemitic white nationalist Darren Beattie, who was appointed to a cultural commission by Trump and who played a major role in Carlson’s sickening justification of the Capitol assault. Over the last year, Bannon has portrayed those arrested in connection to events that included numerous assaults, smashing into congressional offices, threatening to hang Pence, rifling through the desks of Congress members, and smearing human feces onto the walls and floors of the Capitol building as “martyrs” to the MAGA cause and “political prisoners.”
But the big show of the day is likely to be the speech by Trump. In that speech, Trump is expected to attack Pelosi and the work being done by the select committee. However, the more damaging claim is expected to be that the violence was a “legitimate reaction to a ‘stolen’ election.”
Recent polling shows that over a third of Americans already say that “using violence against the government is sometimes justified.” That includes 40% of those who identified themselves as Republicans and 41% who called themselves independents. That’s an enormous shift from the last time this question was asked, when a Washington Post poll found over 90% of the country agreeing that violence against the government was never justified.
On Thursday, America will hear President Joe Biden appeal to the better angels of our nature. It will also hear Donald Trump doing what he has done since he first appeared on the national stage: encouraging violence, celebrating meanness, and championing division and hate. And Fox News will be there to explain to an audience of millions how violence in the cause of supporting Trump is a good thing.
As Biden addresses the nation, so will Bannon and Trump. They’re highlighting the anniversary with very different intentions, aided by a right-wing media that has spent the last year attempting to turn a violent insurrection into a “false-flag” operation staged by the FBI, a peaceful protest infiltrated by antifa, or to simply deny it happened at all. That media has gone from being horrified at what was happening on the day itself to being wholly engaged in a gaslighting campaign that claims the agencies and committee attempting to investigate Jan. 6 are the real villains.
According to Axios, Trump is expected to spend his Jan. 6 anniversary playing a very familiar tune, as he claims that the House select committee’s attempts to sort out events leading up to the insurrection are a “witch hunt” being “staged by Nancy Pelosi.” Meanwhile, Bannon will dive wholeheartedly into the claims made by Tucker Carlson and his Patriot Purge faux documentary.
Biden will attempt to heal. Trump and Bannon will grind their heels into a gaping wound—one that they created—in a deliberate attempt to make things worse.
With the nation only two days away from the first anniversary of the most serious attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812, over 700 people have so far been charged in connection with the insurrection that broke through four lines of police barricades, smashed through doors and windows, and invaded the Capitol building while calling for the death of then-Vice President Mike Pence and legislators. The FBI reports that it is still seeking information on at least 300 more of those suspected of engaging in violent acts during the attack.
As the violence exploded outside the Capitol, a coup attempt was already underway inside the building, where more than 100 Republican legislators were working with Trump in a scheme to set aside the results of the 2020 election. Over the past year, it’s become clear that Trump’s team of advisers, along with Republican insiders and GOP members of Congress, engaged in a plan to make knowingly false claims about election fraud, use those claims as a pretext for refusing to acknowledge electoral votes from states won by Biden, and restore Trump to power through a variety of unconstitutional maneuvers—including the use of the military.
All of this is being investigated by a select committee appointed by the House, which has already issued a series of subpoenas to those involved in Trump’s coup attempt. Bannon has already been indicted on federal charges of contempt for his refusal to cooperate with that investigation.
However, Bannon isn’t behind bars. On Jan. 6, he will be behind a microphone, delivering “a special edition of his podcast” with antisemitic white nationalist Darren Beattie, who was appointed to a cultural commission by Trump and who played a major role in Carlson’s sickening justification of the Capitol assault. Over the last year, Bannon has portrayed those arrested in connection to events that included numerous assaults, smashing into congressional offices, threatening to hang Pence, rifling through the desks of Congress members, and smearing human feces onto the walls and floors of the Capitol building as “martyrs” to the MAGA cause and “political prisoners.”
But the big show of the day is likely to be the speech by Trump. In that speech, Trump is expected to attack Pelosi and the work being done by the select committee. However, the more damaging claim is expected to be that the violence was a “legitimate reaction to a ‘stolen’ election.”
Recent polling shows that over a third of Americans already say that “using violence against the government is sometimes justified.” That includes 40% of those who identified themselves as Republicans and 41% who called themselves independents. That’s an enormous shift from the last time this question was asked, when a Washington Post poll found over 90% of the country agreeing that violence against the government was never justified.
On Thursday, America will hear President Joe Biden appeal to the better angels of our nature. It will also hear Donald Trump doing what he has done since he first appeared on the national stage: encouraging violence, celebrating meanness, and championing division and hate. And Fox News will be there to explain to an audience of millions how violence in the cause of supporting Trump is a good thing.