- cross-posted to:
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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
Just because Republicans choose unreality doesnāt mean the media should ignore the facts of January 6.
On January 6, 2021, I watched CNN as thousands of Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol. As someone well-versed in watching tragedy on television, I was struck by just how indisputable the facts were at the time: violent, red-hat-clad MAGA rioters, followed by Republicans in Congress, tried to stop democracy in its tracks. Trump had told his followers that the protest in Washington, DC, āwill be wild,ā and in the assault that followed his speech, some rioters smeared feces on the walls of the Capitol. Hundreds of them have since been convicted on charges ranging from assault on federal officers to seditious conspiracy. These are stubborn facts, the kind that do not care about your feelings. These facts include the inalienable truth that Trump is the first president in American history to reject the peaceful transfer of power.
It never occurred to me that these facts could somehow be perverted by partisanship. But three years later, we are seeing just that, as Republicans cling to the lie that the 2020 election was āstolenā by Joe Biden and are poised to make Trump their 2024 nominee. And perhaps even more dangerous than the GOP ditching reality is the news mediaās inability to cover Trumpism as the threat to democracy that it very much is.
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But the problem is, when all you have is conventional political framing, everything looks like politics as usual. One candidate makes a claim; the other disputes it. Two sides are divided, etc. This framing only works if both parties operate within the frameworks of a shared reality. But Trumpism doesnāt allow for the reality the rest of us inhabit. Trumpās supporters believe their leaderās reality and not, say, the reality the rest of us see with our eyes. As Trump once told a crowd: āDonāt believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news. What youāre seeing and what youāre reading is not whatās happening.ā
Journalists may be well-intentioned in trying to be āobjective,ā or theyāre simply afraid of being labeled partisan. Either way, coverage of January 6 that gives equal weight to both sidesāone based in reality, one notāis helping pave the road for authoritarianism.
But there are two sidesā¦ Thereās the citizens, who believe in the process and support the peaceful transfer of power, and thereās treasonous scum.
See? Two sides.
One should be voting later this year, the other should be found, prosecuted, and thrown in jailā¦ Or at least have their rights to participate in a democratic election taken away. Iād prefer the former, but Iād settle for the latter.
Thereās zero reason that anyone should continue to believe the election was stolen. The 2020 election was one of the most scrutinized and examined elections in recent history. I donāt know of another election with this much scrutiny. The fact is, āboth sidesā examined ballots and found the results were accurate; or at least didnāt have enough inaccuracies to change the outcome. Fact is, the current president was elected. He is president. To deny that, is to deny not only the election, but the multitude of recounts after the fact, both my Trump supporters and by the systems in place to perform such counts and recounts.
Biden can be ānot your presidentā if you disagree with the decision. You didnāt vote for him, I get that youāre unhappy with the outcome. Youāre free to say whatever you want about the president, short of threats of violence or physical harm (in which case, secret service may want a word with you). The fact remains he is the president of the United States of America, voted into office by the people of the USA. Saying he āstoleā the election by defrauding the election system, at this point, is just delusional.