In the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack, there appeared to be a political consensus about the seriousness of the insurrectionist violence. Though he later changed his mind, Donald Trump himself described the riot as a “heinous attack,” launch by a “mob” that “defiled the seat of American democracy” and “trashed the halls of government.”
Nine months later, a new Quinnipiac poll suggests Republican voters simply don’t see Jan. 6 this way anymore. The survey asked respondents, “Do you consider what happened at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th an attack on the government, or not?” Consider the partisan breakdowns:
Democrats:
Yes, it was an attack on the government: 93 percent
No, it wasn’t: 5 percent
Independents:
Yes, it was an attack on the government: 56 percent
No, it wasn’t: 40 percent
Republicans:
Yes, it was an attack on the government: 29 percent
No, it wasn’t: 66 percent The former president and many of his allies set out to rewrite the history of the riot, reframe the violence, and recast the perpetrators as patriots. The polling suggests those efforts are having an effect, at least with the GOP’s own voters. Meanwhile, Quinnipiac also asked respondents whether they want to see Trump run for president again in 2024. In May, 66 percent of Republicans wanted the former president to run again, and now, that total is up to 78 percent. This comes on the heels of related polling showing the number of Republican voters rejecting the legitimacy of the 2020 election getting worse, not better. Or put another way, over the course of 2021, the GOP has gradually become even Trumpier.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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