Five years later, Trump and his worshippers try to rewrite history of Jan. 6. We cannot allow that to happen
Today marks one of the darkest dates in American history.
Jan. 6, 2021, was a nightmare, as a sitting president tried to overturn an honest election and seize power. That’s the truth, but a different take on the events of that day are taking hold.
Even as it unfolded, it seemed like something out of a bad movie. But it was all too real. Like millions of people, I watched it live on TV, stunned by what had been unleashed.
President Donald J. Trump had refused to accept his resounding defeat in the 2020 election. Former Vice President Joe Biden had won by almost 7 million votes, and compiled a solid Electoral College victory as well.
But Trump cast doubts on the legitimacy of the election and tried to find some way to change the results. On what basis? He just couldn’t accept the loss.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Congress was in session and was scheduled to officially announce the results. Vice President Mike Pence was set to perform his duties to formalize Biden’s victory, rejecting Trump’s request to name him as the winner.
Instead, we saw a day of horror and violence. The MAGA mob erected a gallows and a noose and screamed for blood. Windows and doors were smashed as hundreds of Trump loyalists tried to gain access to members of Congress, apparently to kill them or force them to change the results and name Trump the winner.
During a rally, he urged them on.
“We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump said, tossing a torch onto this sea of political gasoline.
More than 2,000 people stormed the Capitol. They damaged offices and posed for photos, grinning at the lunacy they had released.
Some tried to get at members of Congress, and one woman, Ashli Babbitt, was shot by a Capitol police officer, as she lunged through a broken window on a door to the speaker’s office. She later died.
Since Trump returned to power, Babbitt has been honored with a military funeral. Her family was handed $5 million. She is now a heroine, a brave woman battling for democracy. In fact, she was trying to kill elected officials in an attempt to change a legitimate election, but that reality has been erased.
Four other people died within 36 hours, three of heart attacks or strokes, one from a drug overdose. Scores of law enforcement officers were assaulted, and four committed suicide in the following six months.
Trump calls it a “day of love.”
Night is day. Up is down. Evil is love.
Washington, D.C., police officer Dan Hodges was one of the law enforcement officials injured by the mob. Hodges, speaking as a private citizen, told CBS News that he is amazed to see such recent history distorted.
“Five years ago I thought: This has to be the most videotaped crime in American history. It’s just so much evidence. There’s no way anyone can possibly deny what occurred here,” he said. “But that’s exactly what’s happening.”
During the final days of his first term, Trump was impeached for the second time. A trial took place after he took office, and while the vote was 57-43 in favor of a conviction, it fell short of the needed two-thirds.
The Senate, under Republican control, refused to investigate further. A House of Representatives select committee held a lengthy investigation and determined that Trump was responsible.
How did this play amongst the GOP? Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, was a member of the committee and a prominent critic of Trump’s actions. She was defeated in a 2022 primary, her political career apparently ended.
She dared stand up for truth and reality. That’s a career-killer in the Republican Party now.
In August 2023, Trump was indicted on three federal charges for his role in the attempted insurrection. But he ran to avoid prison, and after his win in 2024, the charges were dismissed.
In December, former special counsel Jack Smith told the House Judiciary Committee there was clear evidence of Trump’s criminal actions.
“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power,” Smith testified under oath.
But that doesn’t matter. Not in this era.
Once in office, Trump pardoned the 1,424 people charged with federal crimes for their actions on Jan. 6, even though 1,010 pleaded guilty and 1,060 were sentenced and served time in prison. He decided what justice was.
The misinformation has flowed like sewage from a broken pipe. Trump claims Biden embedded 274 FBI agents in the crowd on Jan. 6 to stir up trouble.
For one thing, Trump was still president! His own FBI director, Kash Patel, said the agents were there for “crowd control.”
But the myth of Biden and the 274 agents continues to surface. Reality is being overwhelmed by an avalanche of lies.
We are living in an age of alternative truth, of history shaped to please one man, of reality that is distorted and shaped to fit a political narrative.
Today, some prominent members of the Jan. 6 mob will march through the nation’s capital. They are proud of their attempt to take control of the government by force, and the president of the United States, who urged them on five years ago, is celebrating their return.
It’s all too much. We are enduring a very twisted and dangerous time — although that’s not how history, the Trump version, will tell it.
Fourth-generation South Dakotan Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states for four decades. He has contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The London Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets. Do not republish without permission.
Photo: riot-damaged room in Capitol, public domain, wikimedia commons
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