Donald Trump and leadership of the Republican Party are trying to change history, painting Trump’s attack on the Capitol as a peaceful love fest. Trump himself said on a Fox News interview that the pro-Trump domestic terrorists were giving the police “hugs and kisses.” The truth is that hundreds of law enforcement officers were injured in the attempted coup that led to at least 5 deaths. Take for instance Michael Fanone.
Fanone is a 19-year police veteran who was posted inside the Capitol on the day Trump encouraged his followers to invade the building, murder Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and prevent lawfully elected Joe Biden from being certified as the 46th President of the United States.
“I experienced a group of individuals that were trying to kill me to accomplish their goal,” said Fanone in an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon. “I experienced the most brutal, savage, hand-to-hand combat of my entire life. Let alone my policing career, which spans almost two decades.”
Fanone was viciously dragged down a stairwell, repeatedly shocked with a stun gun, and beaten with metal pipes. As a direct result of the Trump-ordered insurrection, Fanone suffered a heart attack, a concussion, and traumatic brain injury. He has also been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the attack. This was just one of the officers affected by the attack.
Trump, of course, lost the 2020 election by over 7 million votes. Rather than accept defeat graciously, Trump made up baseless claims that he had really won the election. On the day Congress was to certify the votes naming Joe Biden the next President of the United States, Trump sent his violent minions on a mission to stop the vote from happening at any costs. It was an organized, attempted coup.
What is the price of the soul of a Republican in Congress? One could ask Congressman Kevin McCarthy what he got for his soul.
On January 6, 2021, fearing for his life, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called then-President Trump from where the senators and representatives were hiding from Trump’s angry mob. He begged Trump to call off the attack. Trump replied “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”
Yet today, MCarthy still panders to Trump – a man who left him to die at the hands of murders he controlled. In fact, McCarthy is attempting to whitewash the attempted insurrection. He insists that no probe should be done into the attempted coup unless it includes a probe into Antifa and Black Lives Matter.
There is no real Antifa in the way Republicans try to paint it. Antifa is an abbreviation for Anti-Fascist. It is not a club, a gang, or an organization. There are no members. It is simply a belief that facists are bad.
However, Trump, McCarthy, and other members of the GOP have turned Antifa into a big bad boogey man. Any time they want to take attention away from the violent acts of domestic terrorists like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, people like Trump point the blame on the fictional Antifa army.
So yes, there are those in the Republican party who actually think there are people stupid enough to believe that Biden supporters broke into the Capitol to stop the certification of ballots proving he won the election. And the sad thing is, that there really are people that stupid.
People like McCarthy would prefer to pretend that the Trump insurrection didn’t happen. Well, it did happen. And Republicans like Trump and McCarthy shouldn’t be allowed to try to rewrite history.
There was no hugging. There was no kissing. There was violence on a grand scale. There were injuries. There were deaths. There were lives ruined.
January 6, 2021 happened.
Peace. Love. Trust.
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