White House Launches Jan. 6 Website Defending Trump, Criticizing Democrats

The White House on Tuesday launched a website marking the fifth anniversary of the Capitol Riot on Jan. 6, 2021. It praised President Donald Trump's actions surrounding the event and sharply criticized Democrats.

The Details: The website argues Democrats "reversed reality" after Jan. 6 by portraying Trump supporters as insurrectionists and frames Trump's post-inauguration pardons and commutations for many Jan. 6 defendants as correcting a "historic wrong." It claims the 2020 election was "fraud-ridden," accuses the House Jan. 6 select committee of misconduct and alleges Capitol Police escalated what it describes as a peaceful protest. The page also criticizes former Vice President Mike Pence for certifying the 2020 election results, calling his actions an "act of cowardice and sabotage", and states no law enforcement officers died as a result of the riot.

For Context: Following Trump's repeated claims the 2020 election was stolen, Trump supporters breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 during the certification of former President Joe Biden's victory. Roughly 140 police officers were injured during the riot and extensive damage was caused to the Capitol. According to Wikipedia reports five people died either during the riot or in its immediate aftermath–one was shot by Capitol Police, another died of a drug overdose and three died of natural causes, including a police officer who died of a stroke a day after. The House select committee later referred Trump for prosecution, though he was not convicted.

How the Media Covered It: Fox News (Right bias) focused on the White House's claims that Democrats were promoting a "gaslighting narrative" to "silence their political opponents." It wrote the new website works to "shed accurate light" on the event and highlighted former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's role during investigations. Washington Post (Lean Left) described the riot as "violent", and said the website underscored Trump's "years-long effort to reshape the narrative." It quoted Former special counsel Jack Smith saying "the president bears the bulk of the blame for instigating the attack", which caused "the worst desecration of the complex since British forces burned it in 1814." CNN (Lean Left) and Reuters (Center) both said Trump has "whitewashed" Jan. 6 history and platformed "baseless" and "completely false" claims. Reuters wrote the contrasting events "laid bare the balance of power" in Washington DC. While Fox News highlighted claims of "cherry-picked" information during Jan. 6 investigations, CNN highlighted claims of "cherry-picked" information on the website.

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