News/Commentary

Support for Jan. 6 Capitol takeover has doubled in two years, with Dems changing their minds the most

January 5, 2023 | | Print Article

For all their theatrics — their slanted media coverage, their hyperbolic rants, their prime-time specials — the House Select January 6 committee has succeeded in convincing more Americans that the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, were, in fact, justified.

As the nation marks on Friday the second anniversary of the event liberals have insisted is the worst attack on democracy since the Civil War, a stunning new poll from the Economist/YouGov reveals that support for the Jan. 6 takeover of the Capitol has risen by a full 11 percentage points since that fateful day.

That isn’t to say that the majority of Americans support the Jan. 6 riot — most don’t.

But the number who do say they “strongly or somewhat approved” of the actions by protestors has jumped from 9 percent two years ago to a whopping 20 percent.

Most notable is the amount of Democrats who have either switched sides or felt compelled to admit their support.

“The share who approve of the takeover has increased 13 percentage points among Democrats (to 16%, from 3%) and 16 percentage points among Republicans (to 32%, from 16%), with no significant change observed among Independents,” YouGov reports.

But even Independents who are unwilling to say they support the Capitol takeover are expressing some doubts.

Among them, those who say they are “not sure” about their support for the events jumped from just 6 percent to 1-in-4, or 25 percent.

As to former President Donald Trump’s level of culpability in the takeover, Americans’ views have largely remained unchanged, even after the House committee claimed in its final report that “one man” — Trump — was the central reason for the chaos that ensued.

After two years of being told Trump’s actions nearly destroyed democracy, the number of Americans who say he is at least a little responsible has risen by just two percentage points, from 64% in 2021 to 66% today.

Interestingly, at the time of the takeover, 41% of Americans said Trump “bore a lot of responsibility” for the events. That number has fallen to 39 percent.

In the days following the attack, 76 percent of Democrats believed “a lot of responsibility” for the events fell on Trump, compared to the 69 percent who now believe that. At the time, 93 percent of Dems believed Trump bore at least a little responsibility, and while the vast majority still feel that way, the number has dropped to 91 percent.

Among Republicans, who were more skeptical of Trump’s involvement one year after the attack than they were when it happened, the sentiments have returned to their original 2021 levels: 39 percent place at least a little of the blame on Trump and 8 percent say he bears a lot of the responsibility, while 51 percent he bears no responsibility.

Even the legality of the events of Jan. 6 is being perceived differently.

In July 2022, 46 percent of Americans felt that Trump’s actions were illegal. In spite of all the propaganda and efforts to censor anyone who felt otherwise, that number has dropped slightly to 42 percent.

“Most of this change has been among Democrats, 74% of whom think Trump’s actions around January 6 were illegal, down 8 percentage points since July,” YouGov reports.

As BizPac Review reported, the Jan. 6 committee ultimately referred Trump for criminal charges, a move Trump claimed was designed to “keep me running for president.”

“Americans know that I pushed for 20,000 troops to prevent violence on Jan 6, and that I went on television and told everyone to go home…The people understand that the Democratic Bureau of Investigation, the DBI, are out to keep me from running for president because they know I’ll win and that this whole business of prosecuting me is just like impeachment was — a partisan attempt to sideline me and the Republican party,” he fumed on Truth Social.

Despite an increasing number of doubters, 45 percent of Americans agree with the criminal referrals, compared to 37 percent who disapprove.

As expected, YouGov reports, “The vast majority of Democrats — 79% — approve, while just 15% of Republicans and 38% of Independents do.”

Melissa Fine
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