With Donald Trump the clear Republican frontrunner as 2024 draws closer, his supporters are urgently attempting to re-write the history book involving the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Philip Bump writes in his latest op-ed for The Washington Post.
In order to absolve Trump from his apparent role in sparking the riot, some of his fans are constructing a narrative that the riot was driven mostly by federal informants and left-wing actors. One of those pushing that narrative is Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who claimed on a recent podcast that “nobody could tell me that those were Trump supporters” who were rioting on Jan. 6 — and that she believes “they were Antifa" and "[Black Lives Matter] rioters.”
"There’s no evidence of this at all. In fact, it defies any logic. For Greene, though, this is a long-held argument. During the riot itself, she texted White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to tell him that she and others 'think they are Antifa … [d]ressed like Trump supporters.'"
"Of course, that was about 90 minutes after she’d texted Meadows to exhort him to '[p]lease tell the President to calm people[.] This isn’t the way to solve anything,'" Bump writes.
Also read: Trump could still be hit with a 'whopper of a tax bill' if his assets are ordered sold off
The denials of who was behind the violence on Jan. 6 depend on a "useful glossing over" of what actually took place, according to Bump.
"Many of those who are in prison agreed to plea deals — which is to say they admitted guilt. Others were convicted of assaults on police officers," he writes.
"Others still were members of groups such as the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers who actively planned to disrupt the transition of power or to aid Trump in doing so. Lumping them all together as victims of a punitive state makes it much easier to ignore what they actually did."
The denials also make it easier to frame Trump as a victim of a "deep state" conspiracy.
"This has been his line for years, of course, but it gained new heft after the multiple indictments obtained against him this year."
Read the full op-ed over at The Washington Post.
