At the presidential debate two weeks ago, Donald Trump lied uncontrollably about a great many things, but the Republican’s rhetoric about the Jan. 6 attack stood out for its detachment from reality. The former president claimed, for example, that there were a “small” number of rioters, which wasn’t true. He said the insurrectionists attacking the U.S. Capitol in his name were “ushered in” by police, which also wasn’t true.
The presumptive GOP also said he offered 10,000 National Guard troops to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which wasn’t true, before claiming that Pelosi said, “I take full responsibility for January 6,” which is something the California Democrat never said.
In case that wasn’t quite enough, at the same event, Trump said some of the imprisoned rioters are “so innocent,” which (a) isn’t true; and (b) is contradicted by the fact that many of the convicts pleaded guilty during their prosecutions.
A New York Times report noted soon after that for many of the former president’s critics, Trump’s “embrace of Jan. 6 and his refusal to agree to unqualified acceptance of a democratic election” were worse than President Joe Biden’s unnerving performance on the same stage.
“It’s a concerted effort to try to de-weaponize Jan. 6,” former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who served on the Jan. 6 committee, told the Times. “It’s part of creating this utter confusion where the average person is, like, ‘I know what I saw on Jan. 6, but maybe I didn’t see what I saw.’”
Two weeks later, Trump is still at it — as we were reminded overnight at the former president’s rally in Miami. Reading from his teleprompter, the GOP candidate told his followers:
“[W]hen people who love our country protest on January 6 in Washington, they become hostages unfairly imprisoned for long periods of time. But fortunately, the Supreme Court has just ruled, and they should be out soon.”
If you watch the clip, note that the creepy music was played at the campaign event; it was not added afterward to make the remarks sound more ridiculous.
Trump: "But when people who love our country protest on January 6 in Washington, they become hostages unfairly imprisoned for long periods of time. But fortunately, the Supreme Court has just ruled and they should be out soon." pic.twitter.com/vaYhvvvkC4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 10, 2024
To the extent that reality still has any meaning, the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol was not made up of “people who love our country” engaged in “protest”; to call incarcerated felons “hostages” is an insult to both the justice system and actual hostages; and while the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that will affect some Jan. 6 cases, the idea that convicted rioters and insurrectionists “should be out soon” is just plainly wrong.
Nevertheless, Trump has referenced the ruling to call for the release of all Jan. 6 criminals and suspects. In other words, when it comes to Jan. 6, the former president still has no idea what he’s talking about. Stepping back, Trump hasn’t exactly been subtle in recent months with his focus on Jan. 6 rioters, offering them praise, support and vows of future pardons. A recent Associated Press report noted that the former president has positioned “the violent siege and its failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election as a cornerstone of his bid to return to the White House.” This coincided with a related Semafor report on the degree to which the Republican has put Jan. 6 rioters “at the heart of his campaign.” That report was published in March. It’s worse now. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
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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