President-elect Joe Biden ran his entire campaign on the promise that he would unify and heal a deeply-divided America once President Donald Trump was out of office.
Biden continued to call for unity and healing amid the chaos as Trump supporters rioted at the Capitol, disrupting the Electoral College certification and leaving five dead including one Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick. A second officer, Howard Liebengood, reportedly took his own life several days later.
But even as Biden planned his unity-themed inauguration, members of his party and the media began to make it clear that simply removing Trump from office was not going to be sufficient. (RELATED: Biden’s Campaign Manager Calls Republicans ‘A Bunch Of F**kers,’ Then Calls For Unity)
The Democratic House of Representatives, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, swiftly impeached President Trump for a second time — with no official inquiry or hearings. Twitter banned the president’s account permanently, and other social media platforms followed suit. Then citing “dangerous Qanon conspiracy theories,” Twitter banned or suspended thousands of other accounts.
Newly-elected Democratic Missouri Rep. Cori Bush called for the investigation, sanction and potential expulsion of any Republicans who had attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election by objecting to the Electoral College vote — something that Democrats have done after every election their party has lost since 2000.
There are GOP members of Congress who worked with the President for months to sabotage our democracy, ultimately inciting the white supremacist insurrection.
They must be investigated and expelled. H.Res. 25 will do just that.
Call your rep to sign on: 202-224-3121
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 12, 2021
Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for resignations from Republican Texas Sen. Tex Cruz and Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, both of whom raised objections to the Electoral College certification.
They wore Auschwitz shirts, erected gallows, and tried to hang the Vice President.
Your continued excusal and denial of Wednesday’s Neo-Nazi presence is abhorrent and dangerous.
The most healing and unifying thing *you* can do is take responsibility for your actions and resign. https://t.co/TlhLkkLPJy
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 9, 2021
Hey Sen @HawleyMO, I hate to break it to you, but this is, in fact, you.
You raised your fist in solidarity with white supremacists who attacked our Capitol.
While you may politically regret what you’ve revealed about yourself, you still have no place in public office.
Resign. https://t.co/Cduo5W35ds pic.twitter.com/Owx4C8iAHY
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 15, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez also suggested that a commission should evaluate and “rein in” media in order to protect the American people from potential disinformation.
AOC suggests adding “media literacy” as a mandate for a congressional “truth and reconciliation” committee pic.twitter.com/sv7UXMwvaO
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 13, 2021
In addition to proposed legislation that would prevent any federal buildings from ever being named after Donald Trump, reports began to circulate that House Democrats would do their best to freeze out any legislation that could potentially benefit those who had objected to the Electoral College vote.
Multiple people are now telling me that the Democrats will pass no legislation tied to any member of Congress who objected to the electors on January 6th. A staffer from the House tells me, “They’re not even going to pass a post office naming if it benefits one of them.”
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 15, 2021
Politico received backlash for allowing conservative pundit Ben Shapiro author an installment of Politico Playbook — despite the fact that Shapiro called out the violence at the Capitol, calling it “absolutely horrifying and disgusting.”
1. What happened yesterday was absolutely horrifying and disgusting.
2. See above.
3. See above.
4. The attempt to blame all conservatives or Trump voters for the actions of those they have consistently and overtly condemned is politically-motivated, deliberately divisive drivel.— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 7, 2021
Lots of depressing thing out there, but this one is special. A media org looks at a violent attack on Congress and thinks, “Hey, let’s be counterintuitive and give a platform to a prominent apologist for extremism.” We may be doomed https://t.co/kf1PgsN8x3
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) January 15, 2021
Shapiro also called out those who were using the Capitol riot to paint all Trump voters and even all conservatives with the same broad — and violent — brush.
This action to punish all Trump supporters — and any outlet that hosts them — for the actions of fringe criminals won’t calm the waters. It will unleash all the worst forces in American life on all sides.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 10, 2021
Shapiro’s predictions began to manifest when CNN anchor Don Lemon said outright that all Trump voters should be held accountable for the riot at the Capitol, because even if they were not there in person, their vote for Trump aligned them with the KKK and other extremist organizations. (RELATED: Cuomo Defends Trump Voters Who Didn’t Storm Capitol In Debate With Don Lemon)
WATCH:
That move from Lemon and from so many others appeared to support another claim Shapiro made just three days after the election: “They don’t hate you because they hate Trump. They hate Trump because they hate you.”
They don’t hate you because they hate Trump. They hate Trump because they hate you. https://t.co/GDWXDrN5as
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 6, 2020