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Welcome to The Logoff: At present marks 5 years because the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters. To commemorate the event, the White Home launched a brand new web page promising the “TRUTH” about “a date which can stay in infamy.” Put merely, it’s bonkers.
How does the White Home describe January 6? The web page, which prominently encompasses a black-and-white picture of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi looming over different members of Congress, claims that “it was the Democrats who staged the true riot” and describes the 2020 election as “stolen.” (They didn’t, and it was not.)
It additionally claims, falsely, that no regulation enforcement officers misplaced their lives and suggests Capitol Police “escalate[d] tensions” with rioters. In actuality, three officers who died within the days following the assault are thought-about to have died “within the line of obligation.”
The total record of distortions and false statements is simply too lengthy to get into right here, and it is likely to be simpler to record the issues the web page does get proper. For instance, the proper date, January 6, 2021, is in block letters on the prime of the web page.
Why does this matter? Trump and the Republican Social gathering have each taken many swings at rewriting the narrative of January 6, however that is their most complete effort thus far. Notably, it’s not merely coming off the cuff in a Trump rally speech. It is a deliberate, taxpayer-funded try and rewrite historical past (and, seemingly, to troll Trump’s opponents).
What’s the massive image? In some ways, Trump has already succeeded the place it counts on January 6. He’s president once more, and he has his social gathering absolutely behind him on this subject. Marco Rubio, who was a senator on January 6 and described it as “anti-American anarchy,” is now his secretary of state. And whereas the assault nonetheless isn’t common with voters writ massive, it’s additionally fading as an animating subject. The White Home web page could also be greatest seen as a victory lap.
And with that, it’s time to log out…
Boy, that was a bleak one. Let’s finish with one fast good factor and get off the web. I actually loved this week’s New Yorker cowl, which depicts a cat in a window as passersby trudge via winter climate outdoors. It’s the type of small second that all the time brightens my day when it occurs in actual life, too. Have an excellent night, and we’ll see you again right here tomorrow!