Americans Blame Trump, GOP for January 6 Attack, Poll Shows

On the two-year anniversary of the January 6 riot at the Capitol, the president plans to publicly acknowledge those who served to protect the building that day, as well as the scars it left on them and the American psyche. President Biden will award the Presidential Citizens Medal to 12 who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021, or were involved in the security of the 2020 election.One of the men who will be receiving a medal is a former Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer, Michael Fanone, who was injured in the attack. During a rally against political violence at Washington, D.C., Thursday, Mr. Fanone directed at least part of his ire at those who now labor as lawmakers in the same building.“The events that day felt like a wakeup call for me and many others that political violence is real,” Mr. Fanone said. “Yet this week, people who encouraged and even attended the insurrection are now taking their places as leaders in the new House majority.”Mr. Fanone was not the only person drawing a connection between the attack and some of the members of the new Congress. The House minority whip, Katherine Clark, called the date a stain on the country’s history.“Tomorrow is the second anniversary of the January 6 insurrection,” Ms. Clark said. “It is a dark day for our country, but the pinnacle of what has become the Republican Party.”According to a new poll from Morning Consult and Politico, a plurality of Americans agree with Ms. Clark, with 44 percent of respondents saying the participants in the attack are “representative of the Republican Party” and 40 percent disagreeing with the statement.The sprawling national tracking poll took special focus on questions surrounding January 6 and its continued political importance in America, in an attempt to measure its impact on recent and future elections.The poll found that the majority of Americans, 56 percent, say the issue will affect how they vote in the 2024 presidential election. Most Americans also believe that President Trump, the only candidate to officially announce his candidacy for 2024 so far, was criminally involved in the events of January 6 and the attempts to overturn the election.While 32 percent say he did not commit a crime, 55 percent of respondents reported believing that Mr. Trump did so and 47 percent believe he should be prosecuted for it.At the same time, Americans are divided in their opinion of the attention that January 6 has received, with 47 percent agreeing that it has been under “too much focus,” while 45 percent disagreeing with the statement.Americans are even more divided on the punishments that those involved have received, with 21 percent saying they’ve been too harsh, 27 percent saying they’ve been appropriate, and 35 percent saying they haven’t been harsh enough.Although the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol has concluded its role in the investigations, Americans want the probes of the attack to continue.Sixty-three percent of Americans consider the continued investigation of the attack by the federal government important, while 31 percent say it is unimportant.According to Attorney General Garland, the Department of Justice has no plan to wind down its investigation of the attack, even if the select committee has done so. “We remain committed to ensuring accountability for those criminally responsible for the January 6 assault on our democracy,” Mr. Garland said in a statement. “And we remain committed to doing everything in our power to prevent this from ever happening again.”

Americans Blame Trump, GOP for January 6 Attack, Poll Shows

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