On the fourth anniversary of the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, many online are trying to make sense of — and document — how the narrative around the events of that day has shifted from near-universal denunciation to a recasting of rioters as “patriots” and the attack as a “day of love.”
Four years ago pic.twitter.com/EfRtzYSMio
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) January 6, 2025
Conservative lawmakers like Mitt Romney and Mitch McConnell were among those who expressed a belief that President Donald Trump had incited the riot that day and seeded it beforehand too, by spreading unfounded theories about the 2020 election being “rigged” and “stolen.”
While McConnell has since equivocated (despite saying Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for the Capitol attack), Romney, who warned McConnell that Jan 6 could be dangerous, has maintained his unequivocal belief in Trump’s culpability — a stance which essentially forced him out of the Senate. (On the outs with MAGA, Romney elected not to stand for re-election in 2024.)
On January 2, 2021, days before the January 6 attack, Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) sent a text message to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) warning him about what he was hearing.
McConnell never responded to the text. @TheAtlantic. pic.twitter.com/zs7vfl9BUa
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) January 6, 2025
Even the likes of conservative radio host and influencer Erick Erickson, far right enough to sometimes substitute for Rush Limbaugh on the air, was appalled that day to judge from his real-time reaction — enough to believe a suspension of the normal rules was justified, and to assert that shooting the protestors was a plausible course of action.
In sharing Erickson’s response circa 2021, journalist Sarah Longwell notes how it took time for MAGA to construct a different story, using the tricks of hindsight to reframe the attacks.
At the time, everyone, including Republicans, understood how bad it was. Then, brick by brick, they built a foundation of lies to justify doing what they know, deep down, to be wrong. Trump betrayed the country. And so do they.
— Sarah Longwell (@sarahlongwell25.bsky.social) January 6, 2025 at 8:21 AM
In the short post, Erickson also mentioned impeachment — which did come, though the Senate did not convict — and to “deny the ability to run for election again.” The latter point seemed unnecessary four years ago, as Trump — having lost the election and refusing to concede — seemed highly unlikely to win another GOP nomination.
“With the passage of time, one realises that that episode really belongs, along with the George Floyd riots, in a chapter called The Madness of the Pandemic. The lockdowns created an atmosphere of near collective madness. Things were pretty crazy on both sides.”
— Niall Ferguson (@nfergus) January 3, 2025
Notable right-leaning academics have also joined the revisionist effort to see events through MAGA-tinted glasses, as above where Niall Ferguson, eminent British popular historian, equates the Capitol riots with the George Floyd protests — and chalks it all up to a COVID-induced cabin fever.
NEW:
Dramatic new Jan. 6 video shows two GOP representatives speaking with Capitol rioters through the broken windows of the House chamber doors as officers point weapons at the mob attempting to breach the floor.
This evidence was released in response to a request by @NBCNews. pic.twitter.com/ZL5kgGlFzi
— follow @ryanjreilly on bluesky, signal in bio (@ryanjreilly) January 6, 2024