January 6th: past and prologue | #199 – June 12, 2022

Partisans listen to their partisan opinion leaders. The GOP is doing little to nothing to stop another attack after 2022/2024.

One variable can predict how the vast majority of Americans feel about the riot at the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021: which party they vote for.

In a poll conducted in December 2021 by YouGov and CBS News on Friday, June 10th, 85% of Democrats responded to the question “What happened at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021?” with “an insurrection,” whereas only 21% of Republicans said the same. Over half (56%) of GOPers preferred instead to say the participants were “defending freedom,” and 47% said it was “patriotism.” Only one out of every 10 Democrats said the latter.

In another poll published by Reuters on Thursday, over half of Republicans said they believed left-wing protestors led the riot on January 6th. About two-thirds of them said the 2020 election was stolen by Trump.

The House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack is investigating what may have led to the events at the Capitol that day. Their first prime-time public display of evidence last Thursday— including testimony fr…