Democrats and media are working overtime to convince the American people that former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 rally and the attack on Capitol Hill are the same.
Both events were largely driven by the misguided belief that President Joe Biden stole the 2020 presidential election – hence the moniker “Stop the Steal.” But outside of Democrat and media attempts to suggest otherwise, the two events do not appear to have been planned with any coordination or collaboration. (RELATED: ‘Existential Crisis’: President Biden Marks 6 Months Since January 6 Capitol Riots)
And the attempts are … many.
Rolling Stone released an exclusive report detailing Jan. 6 protest planning meetings that allegedly included sitting members of Congress. It did little to clear up the fact that those planning meetings pertained to the rally — coordinating logistics and speakers for an organized event supporting Trump — and made no mention of attempts to breach the Capitol, overwhelm law enforcement or overthrow the government.
EXCLUSIVE: Jan. 6 Protest Organizers Say They Participated in “Dozens” of Planning Meetings With Members of Congress and White House Staff https://t.co/zlNIXW0hk8
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) October 25, 2021
Critics pointed out the apparent attempts to conflate the two, noting that people reading Rolling Stone’s report likely understood it to mean that members of Congress and the Trump White House had assisted in coordinating the attack on the Capitol.
I’d say 99.9% of the people talking about this story misunderstand it. Of course the WH and Reps talked to organizers. Trump and Reps spoke at those protests. This doesn’t link them to planning the capitol attack, which is what people think it says. https://t.co/B7EgRmtkt3
— Eric Nelson (@literaryeric) October 26, 2021
And prominent Democrats were quick to capitalize on and amplify the conflation of the two events.
As you may recall, 14th Amendment, Section 3: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress…or hold any office under the United States or any State who … shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against [the Constitution]. https://t.co/a4rxp2z55x
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) October 25, 2021
Aiding a deadly insurrection and attempting to overthrow our democracy deserves nothing less than expulsion from elected office. https://t.co/kODyfjab9U
— Senator Alex Padilla (@SenAlexPadilla) October 26, 2021
Any member of Congress who assisted the insurrection/attempted coup should be removed from office and prosecuted. https://t.co/EYQShOHBUR
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) October 25, 2021
More first-hand accounts of collusion and treason from seated elected officials.
Sounds like @CoriBush‘s call for their expulsion needs to be acted on IMMEDIATELY. https://t.co/rmSaZxBQIb
— Jamaal Bowman (@JamaalBowmanNY) October 25, 2021
CNN anchor Don Lemon took the conflation a step further just a week after the riot on Capitol Hill. During a conversation with fellow anchor Chris Cuomo, Lemon argued that in addition to the rally-goers being no different from the rioters, anyone who voted for Trump was effectively complicit in everything that happened that day.
WATCH:
“You’re in the crowd who voted for Trump. If you voted for Trump you voted for the person who the Klan supported. You voted for the person who Nazis support. You voted for the person who the alt-right supports. That’s the crowd that you are in,” Lemon said. “You voted for the person who incited a crowd to go into the Capitol and potentially take the lives of lawmakers. Took the lives of police officers. Took the lives of innocent lives who were there on the Capitol that day.”
Why are they so desperate to make sure that the average American is unable to draw a distinction between the two events? The answer is pretty simple: they want to keep their tenuous hold on power, and President Biden, whose approval rating continues to plummet, has no coattails.
Going into the 2022 midterm elections, Democrats need the people to believe that the only possible alternative to supporting them is another attack on the Capitol, one that might be successful, and that every vote for any Republican is necessarily a step in that direction.