We know a lot of very disturbing facts about what happened on January 6 when a mob of thousands of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building and held it for two hours.
We know the mob was incited by Trump, Guiliani, and others at the Trump rally that morning. Trump said repeatedly that Congress was meeting to certify the election of Joe Biden, that the election was stolen, that his followers must “stop the steal.” He urged the mob to march to the Capitol and falsely claimed that he would march with them. Of course, he didn’t, but they did.
When they entered the Capitol grounds, the Capitol Police were quickly overwhelmed. For some reason, though they knew about the Trump rally, they were not prepared for a mob. The barriers were knocked over, the domestic terrorists entered the hallowed halls of the Capitol, where they vandalized the building, went searching for Congressional leaders who had “betrayed” Trump, broke windows, smashed doors, smeared feces on the floor, and entered Congressional offices in search of Trump’s enemies.
Somehow they knew where House Minority Whip James Clyburn’s secret office was, although it was behind a marked door. They broke into Speaker Pelosi’s office and stole her laptop.
Some of the terrorists had a plan. Not only did they know the layout of the building and where to locate the key members of Congress, but they had flex cuffs, preparing to take hostages. Fortunately, the members of Congress were in a secure, undisclosed location.
The Pentagon and D.C. officials traded accusations, but there is little doubt that the Pentagon was very slow to provide aid and blocked state officials in Maryland and Virginia from sending in their National Guard.
A timeline released by the Pentagon late Friday says Capitol Police twice declined help from the Defense Department in the days prior to Jan. 6. But it also shows that when the city officials and the Capitol Police requested additional National Guard troops after rioters breached the Capitol, it took four hours for those troops to arrive...The Army secretary, not the city, set the number of National Guard troops at about 300, decided not to use armored vehicles and “established that the guard members were not to move East of 9th Street NW,” roughly nine blocks away from the foot of the Capitol, said mayoral spokeswoman LaToya Foster.
According to the Pentagon’s timeline, officials became aware of demonstrators moving to the Capitol just after 1 p.m. The timeline says that the Capitol Police ordered the building evacuated at 1:26, and that Mayor Bowser and Capitol Police Chief Sund requested help from the DoD by phone at 1:34 and 1:49 respectively.
The acting secretary of defense verbally authorized deployment of additional National Guard troops 75 minutes later, at 3:04 p.m., according to the timeline. The timeline describes an additional conversation with Bowser and a separate discussion of the Sund and Bowser requests by top Defense officials in the interim, but there also intervals of 33 and 30 minutes with no phone calls or meetings listed.
The timeline also lists a call between Bowser, the D.C. police chief and the Army secretary at 3:26, in which the defense official tells the local officials their request for troops was not rejected, and that the deployment has been authorized.
According to the timeline, the D.C. National Guard troops did not leave the D.C. armory until 5:04 p.m, and arrived at the Capitol at 5:40, four hours after they were first requested by the mayor.
At 5:45, the acting secretary of defense formally authorized Virginia and Maryland National Guard troops to support the Capitol Police. The governors of both states had offered their assistance hours earlier. Virginia’s Ralph Northam had tweeted the offer at 3:29 p.m.
You may recall that Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper after the election and replaced him and the top echelon of leaders at the Pentagon with Trump loyalists.
Jim Bourg of Reuters said he heard some of the rioters say they were looking for VP Pence so they could hang him.
Reuters photographer Jim Bourg, who was photographing protesters trying to break down doors to the Capitol building, said he heard three older white men in red “Make America Great Again” caps talking about finding Vice President Mike Pence to hang him from a tree as a “traitor.”
Bourg said shouts of “traitor” were common among other demonstrators as well. Pence was presiding over the electoral vote count, a largely ceremonial duty to confirm Biden’s victory. Trump had falsely suggested to his followers that Pence could ignore the official count and hand Trump a second term. Security agents rushed Pence from the Senate chamber after protesters breached the Capitol building.
There is a video on Twitter of the mob inside the Capitol chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” posted by @59Dallas.
Snopes confirmed that there was a noose erected outside the Capitol building
All of those who participated in this seditious action should be arrested and charged with sedition, not just trespassing. They were trying to stop the democratic process ordained in the Constitution, so they could install Trump for a second term, despite the fact that he lost the election. They are traitors, as is Trump. He was the instigator of the Insurrection and he should be held accountable. His enablers in Congress should also be held accountable.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
— Adolf Hitler
Comment by AGolf non-Twitler:
Trump claimed he ‘immediately called up the National Guard’, despite media reporting it was Mike Pence who took control and ordered the forces
I am not sure Pence was the one who authorized the National Guard. From what I read (from the governor of Maryland) it was the Secretary of the Army, but the damage was done by the time he gave the order.
It will take a while to actually get the real facts of why this event was downplayed. But make no mistake, all who were part of it should be charged with sedition.
I heard that report, too. It was the Secretary of the Army that gave Gov.Hogan authorization to send Maryland guard troops. Hogan was speaking only for Maryland.
It has been obvious what Trump is for a long time. The Republican party has enabled this charade to go on despite the findings of the really credible people who have testified against him – at some risk to themselves. This is what happens when evil exists and “good” people do nothing.
I do not know what price the Republicans will pay. I hope a very serious one. They are certainly deserving of it but we shall have to wait and see. Trump deserves what MAY happen to him once he is out of office but those who have enabled him to lead to this are culprits and as someone said, they should at the least consider resigning from the office which they have disgraced. [I am not holding my breath till that happens.]
Homo Stupidest?
Neanderthal man
Was born in dale
And Qanon plan
Was bound to fail
there’s a key point: many of these angry protestors are under the impression that somehow the truly “out there” yellow journalism theories attached to QAnon are true. Where there is ZERO foundation, there can be zero success.
As Richard Feynman said
Reality must take precedence over public relations because Nature can not be fooled.”
He was talking about “a successful technology” but his statement applies across the board.
You can only deny reality for so long before reality catches up and bites you in the a**.
Ex-Capitol Police Chief Says Requests For National Guard Denied 6 Times In Riots. (NPR has an article with more details on why there wasn’t bigger security presence.
NPRs Domenic “The Donkey”Montenaro is quoting such stellar individuals as Lindsey Graham and House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy in order to nix the idea of impeaching Trump:
“Impeaching the President with just 12 days left will only divide our country more”
One of the iconic images from January 6 explained:
https://crooksandliars.com/2021/01/how-capitol-police-office-eugene-goodman
I heard that report, too. It was the Secretary of the Army that gave Gov.Hogan authorization to send Maryland guard troops. Hogan was speaking only for Maryland.
Don’t know how my previous post ended up here. It is also posted under Cheryl where it belongs.
As to Greg’s link, I am so glad he posted it. This policeman was previously accused of cowardice for running from the mob. It just points out how important it can be to avoid jumping to conclusions. Does anyone remember the exercises where a “thief would race through a room chased by another person in front of witnesses? I know I am messing the description up but the point of the exercise was the unreliability of the witnesses whose reports of the event varied widely.
A few months ago, I spent some time reading the posts on this blog from September-December 2016. I suggest some of you do so if you’ve got a little time to kill. Many of us accurately saw the Idiot and his followers for what they were, we used the term fascist and did so knowingly and without hyperbole. There were some who claimed we were hysterical, but history has proved our fears to be grounded in fact. Right after the 2016 elections I wrote that I feared “collective exhaustion” of the people fearing the onslaught and intensity of what I was sure would come. As evidence of this collective exhaustion, not the dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of atrocities, crimes, and abolition of norms we have experienced in the past four years. I wish I had the proverbial nickel for every time someone here has commented, “I forgot about…” If there is one positive thing that came out of January 6, it is that it has shaken us out of our collective exhaustion-caused stupor and division. Let’s hope, unlike so many instances of American history, this one stays with us. Here’s a good summation why it should:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-unfolding-of-home-grown-fascism-in-capitol-assault_n_5ffc5542c5b65671988782cf
It’s always very instructive to scroll through the “attic” of this blog.
History! 🧐
…note the dozens…
The one scrap of silver lining in all this is the knowledge that every image of the violence, beatings, killings, and destruction will be permanently etched on the Internet forever. Those who participated who have blood on their hands, along with the obvious players who enabled it, will be forever reminded of what they have done. They can’t escape it, and no whitewashing on the part of the Republican enablers who spawned this tragedy will be able to erase it. History will make its judgment, and there’s nowhere to hide.
“my religion is so big that no matter who you are, you’re in it; and no matter what you do, you can’t get out of it.” Woody Guthrie
This is off topic, but of concern to anyone in the U.S. How in the world did it end up in Indiana. We definitely aren’t NY or California. Who visits Indiana?
Mask wearing is asked, but there is no penalty if you don’t want to wear one.
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Officials: More contagious variant of the coronavirus found in Indiana
A more contagious variant of the coronavirus that was first identified in the United Kingdom late last year has been found in Indiana, state health officials announced Monday.
The Indiana State Department of Health said the variant was identified in the state through testing by the state agency’s laboratory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but Monday’s announcement included no additional information on its discovery in Indiana.
Messages were left Monday with the health department seeking information on where in Indiana the more contagious variant had been found and how many people had tested positive for it.
State Health Commissioner Kris Box said in a statement that the variant “does not cause more severe infections, but it is much more easily spread.”
Box added that because the new variant “can be transmitted more easily, it’s more important than ever that Hoosiers continue to wear their masks, practice social distancing, maintain good hygiene and get vaccinated when they are eligible.”
The variant first detected in the U.K. has been found previously in several U.S. states, including New York, Florida and California, and several cases have been reported in those states.
The state health department reported Monday that 3,726 more coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Indiana and that more 30 Hoosiers have died from COVID-19.
The new deaths, which occurred between Thursday and Sunday, raise Indiana’s pandemic death toll to 9,016, including both confirmed and presumed infections.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-nw-coronavirus-variant-indiana-20210111-3m4mnjcypnffjiacgyn7zt2bii-story.html
Conservative groups that have been identified as drumming up support for the rally -GOP state attorneys general and the organizations listed in National Catholic Reporter’s article 1-11-2021, ” …mob rule and those who support it”
Thanks. Here is a link to the report. I am not a Catholic, but i know this is not the only religious group ready to push lies about the election hoping Trump could overthrown the result.
Correct, it is an alliance between two sects as described in 1-3-2021, Christian Recorder article, “Why religion and politics are at play in Georgia”. I focus on one of the two sects because msm and other influencers/informers of/to the public ignore one of the two, citing various excuses which allow its plotting to go undetected. It’s unfortunate because the protected one has greater political sophistication, resources and success, particularly at the national level.
Those who think that the major two U.S. religions are becoming more liberal in America are wrong. Those who think conservative religion will stop with overturn of Roe V. Wade are naive.
One more salient issue that has not been addressed here or anywhere, as far as I know, is the role the historical perversions of the second amendment have played in this catastrophe. The FBI is warning of violence in all 50 state capitols that will happen on Jan 16-20. Not only are we witnessing the logical conclusion of the legitimization of hate, but also the decades-long erosion of any reasonable interpretation of unfettered access to guns. There will be much more death and disruption in the weeks, months and years to come.
I hope no one will get on their high horses with certainty about the health of the republic. We are still seconds away from midnight on the democratic Doomsday Clock.
The gun rights people I know have a scenario in their minds where the government of liberals arrives at the gun owners’ homes by car, they walk onto the owners’ property and seize the guns. Aerial assault from the oligarchy’s drones, they’re clueless to it. It reflects the blinders that the powerless wear so that they feel in control.
The other scenario fantasy they imagine is carloads of men from the city, attacking them at home. The gun owners, like heroes in the movies, picture mowing down dozens and, then quipping about surviving a bad day to minimize their fear and bolster their egos.
With that level of stupidity, you are right about Doomsday.
Here is some good news:
House Democrats formally introduced an article of impeachment against Trump, charging him with “incitement of insurrection” for his role in the takeover of the U.S. Capitol by a violent pro-Trump mob on Wednesday. Democrats say that measure already has 218 co-sponsors, enough to guarantee passage.
Who planned it? A lot of formerly rebel groups who found each other 1) on the internet and 2) BECAUSE THE PRESIDENT EMPOWERED THEM AND INVITED THEM.
Listening to Congressman Maloney this morning and the first-hand accounts of those inside are staggering. They sound like teachers describing their experiences.
Every educator knows the chill-down-the-spine during intruder, lockdown, shelter-in-place drills and taking that call or seeing that bomb threat note. And, tragically thousands have experienced the actual situation.
And, how is it schools for a decade plus take any threat seriously, inform authorities, take precautions and have drilled.
The legislators and staffers have reported real bombs at DNC and RNC office, in the Capitol, and in vehicles. Weapons abound. A gallows and rip-tie handcuffs for hostages.
More bomb sniffing dogs have been in school hallways after a viable threat and in auditoriums before major events than there were in the Capitol.
Did those at the “peaceful” rally not see this? Did those watching them march to the Capitol not see this.
The commander in chief should be court marshalled for desertion of duty as well as instigation.
It took this event for those who have enabled this man for four years to see how dangerous he is. They could have and should have shut him down from day 1 but with no limits and not responsible to anyone, he opened the doors to anarchists, not protesters, not even maga ralliers – these are known on social media anarchists.
A planned coup Yes. He did nothing. His enablers did nothing.
I think I shared this a few years ago. There is a German comic who goes by the persona of Erwin Pelzig who does incredibly funny and intellectual comedy (he’s done an whole album on PISA and even a great routine on the dangers of McKinsey–imagine that). Years ago he had a joke about about the dangers of the internet and how it bred extremism. The punch line was something like this: There’ve always been stupid, paranoid people throughout history. But until the internet, they didn’t know about each other! Plus he’s from my hometown, a place of great intelligence. 😇
WaPo is reporting that the DC mayor’s office had to try to reach the White House by calling ex-employee Kellyanne Conway to beg for the National Guard. That is mind-boggling.
A call to Conway- how could that possibly go wrong?
Kellyanne Conway has been identified as a member of the Council on National Policy (a secretive, conservative Christian group that has members with significant political influence). Fifteen members of the group were at the Rose Garden event for Amy Comey Barrett (WaPo).
An article in the National Catholic Reporter, 1-11-2021, about supporters of the Capitol rally is worth a read. The money source for one of the identified organizations in the 1-11 article is described in a National Catholic Reporter article, 7-18-2019, “Money trail tells the tale of EWTN’s Direction”.
This is a quick summary of a recent video that Moore put out.
………………………………….
The 7 Critical Truths About the Capitol Attack
By Michael Moore, Michael Moore’s Facebook Page
11 January 21
THE 7 CRITICAL TRUTHS:
This attack on the Capitol was an Inside Job in which some Republican members of Congress and their staffs assisted the mob in getting into and through the Capitol building.
Various elements of law enforcement also assisted in the attack, as did rogue cops and current and ex-military from around the country. Current members of the NYPD and the Seattle police force have been identified in footage as part of the mob. Reports say they’ve also identified active duty troops partipating in the attack – plus a police chief and a sheriff – as members of the mob. The guy inside the House chamber carrying the large number of police-grade handcuff zip-ties is a retired Lt. Colonel.
Trump was the ringleader and the inciter – and when cries of help were made to him to send in the National Guard to protect the Capitol and our elected representatives, Trump refused.
This attack was a dry run for more violent attacks the terrorists are planning to launch before the Inauguration.
Why did members of Congress tell their staffs to stay home on Wednesday “for their own safety?” Everyone knew there would be trouble. Yet, stunningly, 1,900 Capitol Police were told to stay home on Wednesday. Only 400 reported to work. It was designed for them to be overrun.
Of the very few terrorists who have now been arrested, not one of them has been charged with domestic terrorism. “Trespassing” is the most common charge.
White supremacists were everywhere in the mob. Some wore T-shirts proclaiming, “6 Million Was Not Enough.” Our military and police departments across the country have been infiltrated by white supremacists and hard-core racists. Defunding them will defang them. Everyone knows had that mob been Black, they’d all be dead. We need to start over with a whole new concept of criminal justice, and new anti-racist peacekeeping officers.
We need a lawyer here. It is my understanding that we have no laws on domestic terrorism.
My ‘favorite quote’ from the article: “Mr. Trump could be the last president to believe in Jesus”. These people must have brains made out of mush or bricks. They certainly are devoid of any thinking ability.
Following stupid leaders like sheep isn’t what Jesus wanted.
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How White Evangelical Christians Fused With Trump Extremism
A potent mix of grievance and religious fervor has turbocharged the support among Trump loyalists, many of whom describe themselves as participants in a kind of holy war.
Jan. 11, 2021
WASHINGTON — Before self-proclaimed members of the far-right group the Proud Boys marched toward the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, they stopped to kneel in the street and prayed in the name of Jesus.
The group, whose participants have espoused misogynistic and anti-immigrant views, prayed for God to bring “reformation and revival.” They gave thanks for “the wonderful nation we’ve all been blessed to be in.” They asked God for the restoration of their “value systems,” and for the “courage and strength to both represent you and represent our culture well.” And they invoked the divine protection for what was to come.
Then they rose. Their leader declared into a bullhorn that the media must “get the hell out of my way.” And then they moved toward the Capitol.
The presence of Christian rituals, symbols and language was unmistakable on Wednesday in Washington. There was a mock campaign banner, “Jesus 2020,” in blue and red; an “Armor of God” patch on a man’s fatigues; a white cross declaring “Trump won” in all capitals. All of this was interspersed with allusions to QAnon conspiracy theories, Confederate flags and anti-Semitic T-shirts.
The blend of cultural references, and the people who brought them, made clear a phenomenon that has been brewing for years now: that the most extreme corners of support for Mr. Trump have become inextricable from some parts of white evangelical power in America. Rather than completely separate strands of support, these groups have become increasingly blended together.
This potent mix of grievance and religious fervor has turbocharged the support among a wide swath of Trump loyalists, many of whom describe themselves as participants in a kind of holy war, according to interviews. And many, who are swimming in falsehoods about the presidential election and now the riot itself, said the aftermath of Wednesday’s event has only fueled a deeper sense of victimhood and being misunderstood.
Lindsay French, 40, an evangelical Christian from Texas, flew to Washington after she had received what she called a “burning bush” sign from God to participate following her pastor urging congregants to “stop the steal.”
“We are fighting good versus evil, dark versus light,” she said, declaring that she was rising up like Queen Esther, the biblical heroine who saved her people from death.
“We are tired of being made out to be these horrible people,” she said, acknowledging there was some violence but insisting on the falsehood that Antifa was behind it.
Like many Republicans in Congress, some evangelical leaders who have been most supportive of Mr. Trump distanced themselves and their faith from the rioters. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas, called the violence “anarchy.” The siege on the Capitol “has absolutely nothing to do with Christianity,” he said. “Our support of President Trump was based on his policies.”
But critics said it was too late to try to separate the white conservative Christian culture that helped push Mr. Trump to power from last week’s violence in Washington.
“You can’t understand what happened today without wrestling with Christian Nationalism,” Andrew Whitehead, a sociologist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, said on Wednesday, adding that white evangelical movements have long at least tolerated far-right extremism, well before Mr. Trump. “They provided the political and theological underpinnings of this, and it has allowed anarchy to reign.”
In a Facebook video shot in Washington on Monday night, Tennessee pastor Greg Locke referred to himself as part of the “black robe regiment,” a reference to American clergy who were active in the American Revolution. At a rally the next night, Mr. Locke preached to a crowd of Trump supporters in Freedom Plaza, predicting “not just a Great Awakening, but the greatest awakening that we have ever seen.”
The riot on Wednesday, carried out by a largely white crowd, also illustrated the racial divide in American Christianity.
Hours before the attack on the Capitol, the Rev. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta had been elected to the U.S. Senate after many conservative white Christians tried to paint him as a dangerous radical, even as his campaign was rooted in the traditional moral vision of the Black church. And for years many Black Christians have warned white believers that Mr. Trump’s rhetoric on race was going to end badly.
“Our cries go unheeded,” Jemar Tisby, the president of a Black Christian collective called the Witness, said.
“This is authentic white American Christianity on display,” he said of Wednesday’s event. “The challenge for white Christian America is to examine what they have wrought religiously.”
Inside the Capitol, senators who objected to the election results were among the most prominent conservative Christians in their party, including Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Cindy Hyde-Smith.
The fruits of the alliance between far-right groups — Christian and otherwise — were clear on Wednesday, before the rioting began, as thousands of Trump supporters gathered to protest the certification of the presidential election results, with Joseph R. Biden Jr. definitively defeating Mr. Trump, even after attempts to discredit the election. Many in attendance were white evangelicals who felt called to travel hundreds of miles from home to Washington.
Oren Orr, 31, an arborist from Robbinsville, N.C., where he goes to Santeetlah Baptist Church, rented a car to drive to Washington. He carried his American flag right up below the officers on the bleachers, and his wife had a Christian flag. Mr. Trump could be the last president to believe in Jesus, he said. (Mr. Biden speaks often about his lifelong Catholic faith, and unlike Mr. Trump, attends church services frequently.)
Mr. Orr said he brought a baton and a Taser to Washington but did not get them out. “I know the Lord has my back no matter what happens,” he said….
EWTN (description by National Catholic Reporter, 1-11-2021)
William Barr, Leonard Leo and Pat Cipillone- high level enablers of policy extremism
Donald Trump: Not a Catholic
Joe Biden: Catholic
Nancy Pelosi: Catholic
What is your point, Linda?
Commonweal made one of the points on Jan. 8, 2021.
The numerous msm articles that expose, “How white evangelical Christians fused with Trump Extremism”, do they have value?
If the answer is yes, is there value to coverage of sect members who msm selectively ignores?
As illustration, Media Matters selectively exposed school privatizers and Mercedes Schneider called out the omission of Gates and Walton heirs. It set the record straight and one can hope pressure is exerted that makes it more difficult for wrong to continue.
I look forward to Commonweal et al exposing the alteration to the Pledge of Allegiance recited by students in some Catholic schools. I look forward to Commonweal condemning a Bishop’s prohibition against his priests voting in Democratic primaries. I look forward to Commonweal condemning a state Catholic Conference for telling the bishop he has the authority to deny priests their voting rights. I look forward to stronger organizations than Catholic Vote, Catholic League, EWTN,… I look forward to rejection of the lawsuits filed by religious organizations that harm the common good.
I’m confident that if citizens don’t know about a wrong, it won’t be changed.
House Sets Impeachment Vote to Charge Trump With Incitement
Democrats are planning a Tuesday vote to formally call on the vice president to wrest power from President Trump and a Wednesday impeachment vote if he does not.
…“I’m not afraid of taking the oath outside,” Mr. Biden said Monday, referring to a swearing-in scheduled to take place on a platform on the west side of the Capitol, in the very spot where rioters marauded last week, beating police officers and vandalizing the building.
Mr. Biden signaled more clearly than before that he would not stand in the way of the impeachment proceeding, telling reporters in Newark, Del., that his primary focus was trying to minimize the effect an all-consuming trial in the Senate might have on his first days in office.
He said he had consulted with lawmakers about the possibility they could “bifurcate” the proceedings in the Senate, such that half of each day would be spent on the trial and half on the confirmation of his cabinet and other nominees.
In the House, a vote was scheduled for Tuesday evening to first formally call on Mr. Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment. Republicans had objected on Monday to unanimously passing the resolution, which asked the vice president to declare “president Donald J. Trump incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting president.”…
The impeachment article invoked the 14th Amendment, the post-Civil War-era addition to the Constitution that prohibits anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States from holding future office. Lawmakers also cited specific language from Mr. Trump’s speech last Wednesday riling up the crowd, quoting him saying, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”…
The House is slated to begin debate on the impeachment resolution on Wednesday morning, marching toward a vote late in the day unless Mr. Pence intervenes beforehand…
The number of corporations who will not fund politicians is increasing. Good move.
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President Trump’s effort to overturn the result of the presidential election — and the violent attack on Congress by his supporters — has created a dilemma for many companies. A growing number have decided that they are, at least for now, not willing to support members of Congress who backed Trump’s efforts to change the election result and promoted lies about election fraud.
Over the weekend, several large companies — Marriott, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Commerce Bancshares — announced a suspension of donations to members of Congress who voted against election certification. Yesterday, the list expanded to Amazon, AT&T, Comcast, Airbnb, Mastercard, Verizon and Dow, the chemical company. Hallmark has even asked for its money back from two of the senators who opposed certification, Josh Hawley and Roger Marshall.
“Just a few days ago, this would have been unthinkable,” Judd Legum — the author of the Popular Information newsletter, who has done the best recent reporting on corporate donations — told me.
In the Senate, the temporary ban on donations will also affect Rick Scott of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and a few other members. In the House, the group includes more than half of the Republican caucus, including its two top leaders, Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise.
“We have to create some level of cost,” Thomas Glocer, a board member at Morgan Stanley and Merck, told The Wall Street Journal. “Money is the key way.”
The National Association of Manufacturers, long one of the more conservative business lobbying groups, has been particularly harsh. It called out Republicans who “cheered on” Trump during his “disgusting” effort to overturn the election, which it said had “inflamed violent anger.” The association added: “This is sedition and should be treated as such.”
Still, many large companies have not announced a change. (And other companies, like Goldman Sachs and Google’s parent, have announced a pause on all political donations — a move that seems designed to prevent public criticism while also not angering politicians who supported attempted election fraud.)
Google, Coca-Cola and UPS all have pledged to suspend contributions across the board. Other companies are focusing on lawmakers they view as complicit in Trump’s effort to disrupt the affirmation of Biden’s election win. PR and lobbying experts wonder whether the upheaval is temporary or represents a permanent political shift. More companies are also creating policies in response to last week’s violence. GoFundMe says it will no longer allow people to fundraise for travel expenses used for potentially violent political events, and Airbnb says it will attempt to restrict violent Capitol rioters from making reservations in the DC area during the inauguration.
How will Airbnb determine who is a potential rioter?
Hit them hard in their pocketbook. That’s where it really hurts.
Josh Hawley has lost his primary funder in Missouri, the guy who put up 50% of his campaign funding. He said that Hawley should be censured. Apparently he did not intend to send a seditionist to the Senate.
Is it possible that some Trump lovers have FINALLY had enough of him?
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A majority of voters nationwide hold Trump responsible for the violence at the Capitol last week, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday. The survey found that just 33 percent of voters approved of his job performance, tied with his lowest approval on record.
Roughly a third of voters continued to express faith in the president and said they believed his unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud. But among the rest of the electorate, there was broad agreement that the president deserved to be removed from power.
Fifty-six percent of voters said he bore responsibility for last week’s violence. Separately, 53 percent said he should resign as president, and 52 percent said he should be removed.
It is astonishing that Trump continues to enjoy the support of about 40% of voters, who presumably saw the violence in the Capitol.