Trump Salutes Insurrection ‘Hostages’
Creeping authoritarianism? Political suicide? Descent into madness?
WaPo (“Trump escalates solidarity with Jan. 6 rioters as his own trials close in“):
Shortly after Donald Trump walked onstage at a recent rally, the voice of an announcer instructed the crowd to rise “for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6th hostages.” Trump saluted, and the loudspeakers blasted a rendition of the national anthem performed by people accused or convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump then kicked off the rally with a promise to help the defendants — a group that includes violent offenders he has glorified as “patriots” and “hostages” and pledged to pardon if he returns to power. “We’re going to be working on that the first day we get into office,” Trump said at the rally this month in Dayton, Ohio.
WSJ (“Trump Kicks Off General Election With Dark Rhetoric, Vows to Help Jan. 6 ‘Hostages’“):
Donald Trump spent the first breaths of his first rally as a general election candidate delivering a highly-charged promise: To help the “hostages” detained for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol “the first day we get into office.”
“They were unbelievable patriots,” he said, after raising his hand in a salute as a recording played of Jan. 6 defendants singing the national anthem from jail.
My first instinct was that this is just weird. Creepy, even. Even by Trump standards.
But it’s also just dumb for someone ostensibly running for re-election.
WSJ:
At this moment, most presidential candidates would pivot to the middle to expand their support. “At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away,” Nikki Haley, Trump’s last GOP primary foe, said when she quit the race, just before he clinched the nomination. Instead, Trump has used events in recent days to sling polarizing rhetoric and feed red meat to his base. He has mocked President Biden’s stutter, called some migrants “animals” and said Jewish Democrats hate their religion and Israel.
On the campaign trail—particularly at his Ohio rally last weekend—and on social media, Trump has increasingly focused on the fates of Jan. 6 defendants. The former president has dangled the possibility of pardons in recent years, but now is vowing to take immediate steps if elected.
The renewed focus has caused consternation among some of his advisers. But Trump, who is facing a raft of criminal charges related to the events culminating on that day, has sought to minimize his actions by defending those of his supporters. Trump and his allies say the government has overreached in many of the cases.
They have also rallied around the death of Ashli Babbitt, 35, a protester shot by a Capitol police officer as rioters tried to smash through doors of the Speaker’s Lobby. She has been portrayed as a martyr by the far-right and Trump has attacked the officer who shot her as a coward “who wanted to show how tough he was.”
While many Trump voters align with his view of Jan. 6, the prospect of pardons could repel more moderate Republicans and independent voters Trump will need to win. In a Wall Street Journal poll conducted in late February, 55% of respondents overall were opposed to pardoning some of the people convicted of crimes, while 40% supported it. (Nearly twice as many respondents “strongly” opposed pardons than strongly supported them.) Some 88% of Democrats oppose pardons, while just under a quarter of Republicans do. Among independents, 65% oppose pardons, the Journal poll showed.
Trump needs the votes of hundreds of thousands—maybe millions—of people who dislike him but are dissatisfied with the incumbent President. To the extent they’re paying attention—which, granted, is a huge caveat this far out—this can’t be helpful.
But it’s quite possible that staying out of prison is more top of mind for Trump than being reunited with the Resolute desk.
WaPo:
“Every time there is a big event that is ‘negative Trump lawsuit,’ he’ll do something to distract attention from that,” said Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor at Princeton University who studies the rise and fall of constitutional government. “These outbursts with language that’s just unacceptable in U.S. politics happen when he is under pressure.”
While Trump quickly secured the GOP nomination, defeating his rivals by wide margins in early contests and driving them to withdraw from the race, some Republicans are voicing concerns that his misrepresentations of the Jan. 6 attack and the people involved could weaken him with general election voters.
“It’s not the way that I would talk about it. I was there,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who endorsed Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in the primary, said of Jan. 6. “We want to broaden our support, we want to broaden, at least that’s the way I would look at it.” Rounds added that Trump is “probably not going to take my advice.”
In December, Trump said he’d govern as a “dictator” on “Day One” to “close the border” and drill for oil — a remark he went on to repeat, later claiming he was making it in jest. In a March social media post, he added to those two promised first acts that he would also “Free the January 6 Hostages.”
In January, Trump warned of “bedlam” if he lost, and declined to rule out violence by his supporters. In March, he threatened a “bloodbath” after he spoke about promising to enact tariffs. (Allies and his campaign argued he was speaking figuratively about the economy.)
On Friday, Trump on social media promoted a flier for the nightly vigil outside the Washington jail supporting Jan. 6 defendants housed there, led by the mother of slain rioter Ashli Babbitt. Babbitt’s mother, Micki Witthoeft, said at Wednesday’s vigil that Trump called her that day about “setting these guys free when he gets in.” She added, in remarks that were live-streamed online: “He said to pass that on to the guys inside that they’re on his mind, and when he gets in they’ll get out.”
But the more obvious explanation is that the man is just nuts.
WaPo:
Trump opened his first 2024 campaign rally in Waco, Texas, last year, while saluting to the song with Jan. 6 defendants titled “Justice for All.” He routinely plays it on the patio at Mar-a-Lago, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk about private interactions. Trump played it at Mar-a-Lago the night he was arraigned last spring in New York. He also saluted to the song at a November 2023 rally in Houston.
At a recent rally in Greensboro, N.C., Trump discussed his legal problems in similar terms to how he has described people charged with or convicted of crimes related to Jan. 6. “I stand before you today not only as your past and hopefully future president, but as a proud political dissident and as a public enemy of a rogue regime,” he said.
“The J6 hostages, I call them because they’re hostages,” he added at the same rally. “They’re put in jail for extended periods of time, for very long periods of time. They’re hostages. You heard them singing. You heard the spirit that they have, the spirit is unbelievable. That song became the number one song.”
The last bit, by the way, is actually true! The song topped the Billboard Digital Song Sales chart last week. It is, alas, an incredibly niche list. It sold some 33,000 downloads, compared to just 10,400 for the runner-up. Presumably, because nobody pays to download individual songs anymore because they can stream any song they want.
Regardless, that boy ain’t right.
If he’s that passionate about the terrorists/insurrectionists and their plight, I wonder why he didn’t preemptively pardon them while he was still president?
Trump is as Trump does. But enablers like Sen. Rounds can’t be let off the hook with weak responses like “his words, not mine.” Rounds is pro-insurrection too, as long as his party is pro-Trump.
While this perhaps is of general utility in undercutting any regain with the Uni educated, which Biden overperforms with, the specific core challenge for Biden really seems to be the Swing States and their specific demographics, to which my best understanding the challenge is
(a) more working class
(b) more socially conservative tied to (a)
(c) different ethnic profiles including ethnic minorities with different socio-political leaning than the coastal urban ethnic coalitions (as like NY & California) that the uni bourgeousie intello Left generally tend to extrapolate as universal across geographic scope but data indicate is not at least now the case
(d) cultural gender reaction in (a) across ethnic groups in Swing geographies particularly.
Inattention to the electoral map structure and the critical sub-national specificities are my fear for your result – over-attention to the framing and understanding of the urban-coastal and what convinces them is a concern.
@Lounsbury:
Yeah, I don’t think the demographics of AZ, GA, NC, NV match up much with Michigan and Wisconsin. And who are the swing voters there? What about GOTV – is that relevant?
This will become, unfortunately, a bit of a test of the hypothesis of how much political elites can shape their follower’s views (e.g., the work of Philip Converse). I would expect that if there is polling, we will find that an increasing number of Republicans will see those in prison for their action on January 6th to be “hostages.”
I am hopeful, as James notes, that while there will be such an increase it will also be a repulsive message to voters more towards the margins.
But this is the stuff of radicalization, especially for core MAGA types.
A key question will also be how will FNC cover this (my guess is by ignoring it as much as possible).
@Steven L. Taylor:
Completely this. Especially as they are clearly trying to avoid anything related to the “stolen election” due to the Dominion settlement–not to mention the Ray Epps case and others too.
BTW, it’s worth noting that along with repealing Obamacare and securing the border, pardoning 1/6 participants was something Trump could have done during his first term (and in this case very easily). So another #biglysad example of him not delivering for his followers.
First of all, there are no insurrectionists. No one has been charged with insurrection, no one has been prosecuted for insurrection and thus, no one has been convicted of insurrection. The insurrection is in your fervid mind.
And neither did those who “paraded” through the Capitol have firearms inside the building. The only killings were by federal officers, most notable Ashli Babbitt being intentional killed without imminence or proximity of being a reasonable threat of death or serious bodily injury to the supposedly “professional” law enforcement officer who stepped from cover, pointed his gun at her head while she was in the window and intentionally discharged his weapon. That the Capitol police and DOJ prosecutors ruled the homicide “excusable” in their discretion does not imply it was justifiable under the justifiable homicide statutes.
Hostages does seem a bit off, political prisoners is more apt given those at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 were imprisoned when no one was for the attack on the White House months earlier or the months long attack on the Portland Federal Courthouse were even arraigned, if arrested.
And Trump being a “dictator” is amusing since to be an authoritarian you need the unquestioning support of at least the security services and “justice” department. The FBI, DOJ, even the CIA have demonstrated their full support for Democrats and their intention to go after any who oppose the UniParty elite in DC.
Now what has so many concerned is not that Trump isn’t appealing to zealous Democrat acolytes, but that he is keeping those imprisoned for January 6th in the media and in the public mind. Democrats and DC’s one fear is that people will stop and think.
@Lounsbury: “Inattention to the electoral map structure and the critical sub-national specificities are my fear for your result – over-attention to the framing and understanding of the urban-coastal and what convinces them is a concern.”
Have you conveyed your deep analysis to the Biden campaign? Because I’m sure they’d be hugely grateful that you have discovered this previously unknown fact that could turn the election for them. Granted, they might be embarrassed that it took a pseudonymous internet poster to make them pay attention to the electoral map, but I’m sure they’d get over that quickly. Probably even give you a job — although I’m sure they couldn’t afford you!
@JKB: Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
There’s no reason to think Trump has a plan, or is following it if he does. But if he does, it’s Karl Rove’s plan, and Karl Rove, while evil, wasn’t stupid. The plan is turnout. Don’t focus on the (barely existing) middle, get all of your base fired up and to the polls.
@JKB: Every word you wrote is bullshit, including “and” and “the.”
@Mikey:
A salute to Mary McCarthy.
@JKB: @Lounsbury: I think you two really need to interact more directly.
@JKB:
A smart patholgical liar would try to sell lies not easily debunked by a five second search. Per the AP:
Everyone here already knows MAGA cultists are ignorant deceivers. Just like sane Americans know of Broke Don — a rapist who incited the deadly Jan. 6 terror attack, got elected in 2016 because the New York FBI office tricked James Comey, weaponized the DOJ against his enemies via Russian propaganda and dishonest sycophant Bill Barr, and declared he would be a dictator on day one.
Trump pledging more crime and chaos by releasing the violent Jan. 6 insurrectionists will not play well with swing voters. Especially while Republicans are incapable of fundraising or governing, with Republican voters and congressman alike fleeing MAGA extremist thuggery.
Democrats welcome MAGA’s determination to alienate more voters with self-defeating support of the insurrection terrorists who assaulted Capitol police and screamed for assassination. Please proceed.
@JKB:
What do you call people who build a gallows and chant “Hang Mike Pence”?
What do you call those two women who vowed to “find Nancy Pelosi and put a bullet through that bitch’s brain”?
What do you call people who smeared human feces all over the Capitol hallways? And urine?
Oh, right. Brave patriots out for a peaceful stroll.
@Scott F.: Basically, for Rounds, the optics might be a little bad, but hey, what the heck, no biggie. Rounds, after kristallnacht, “Its not how I would have done it”.
@CSK: I call them antifa. Or FBI plants. Or false flag Democrats. Or, as Ralph Kramden famously said, “homina, homina, homina”. Because all of these answers make more sense than anything you’ll get out of JKB.
@wr: Why of course, rando blog commentators making internet observations should always be studied, as deeply as your own insights indeed although of course you are of the sort to prefer ideological echo chambres.
@Gustopher: the fact you and wr would align me with JKB rather speaks volumes of the ideological echo chambre, which would entertain me at some level were I not concerned that you bumblers will open the door to Trump II.
@charontwo: I observe only the reading observation of analysts who note that ideological pundits of right and left consistently always argue and favour for more of their ideology not matter what – more to use the annoying US phrase, “base motivation” – and the observation made by observers that the Democrats have now evolved into a support structure where low-turnout favours them as they have shifted in their support from the working class to the Uni educated with high voting propensity. As other data indicate that for winning in Swing States will hinge on potentially narrow shifts in margin and potentially narrow shifts in vote amongst a sliver of the up-for-grabs voters.
Of course besides appeal there is negative – and if the negative is actually seen as negative by the right audience (which is my open question – I merely posit that the negative that the Lefties here get themselves worked up over may not be the right negative – note not a conclusion, a risk, certainly I see many of the same things as negative, but then I am an over-educated Uni intello myself – but the piety of the “correct thinking” mode)
(the fact that the Republicans have converted working class votes does rather indicate the ideological lashing out here about the impossibility, focused on the straw man of converting MAGA is just that, lashing out).
@JKB:
There you go.
What do you believe: what you actually witnessed on live television, or what the Republican Party tells you you winessed on live television, which apparently was an act of tourism gone wild
@Lounsbury: You DO realize that when you are talking about “rando blog commentators” that the term embraces you too, right?
ETA: Another question: when you drone on about “shifting emphasis away from working class and to the Uni educated,” are you attempting to distance yourself from having gone to university yourself (for example, did you become one of the MotU in RE investment by working as the mailroom boy who “got discovered” ala some Horatio Alger novel) , or are you attempting to fashion some sort of monolithic Uni-educated cohort of which you have somehow managed to free yourself from the shackles of?
Applying my Occam’s Butterknife to this, I get Trump has heard the word “hostages” a lot in the news of late, and would like to link “Democrat” with “Hamas”.
@dazedandconfused:
Please don’t give him any ideas.
Charlie Kirk says that “if the next election doesn’t go the way we want, we fight.”
@CSK: Excellent. Maybe this time they’ll actually be charged with insurrection, after stating their intentions so clearly.
@CSK: Ha. Who is Charlie Kirk’s scrawny azz gonna fight? Instead of making lame threats, the “we fight” MAGA losers should just donate to Broke Don’s campaign aka his attorneys.
@Lounsbury:
I can’t speak for wr, but I find both you and JKB tedious in similar ways, based primarily on presentation. Uni educated bobos, lanyard classes and von Mises are all about the same in minimal faith pontificating.
@Lounsbury: ” the fact you and wr would align me with JKB rather speaks volumes of the ideological echo chambre, which would entertain me at some level were I not concerned that you bumblers will open the door to Trump II.”
I am reminded of that great moment in the opening of The Social Network, in which Erica says to Zuckerberg: “You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you’re going to go through life thinking that girls don’t like you because you’re a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won’t be true. It’ll be because you’re an asshole.”
You keep thinking that people like me react negatively to your posts because of ideology. (Our ideology, that is, since you have none at all — you merely speak the objective truth.)
The fact is, I don’t care about your ideology. What bothers me is your pomposity, your insistence only you know the truth and everyone else is blinded by their own ideology, your constant mangling of the English language as you use words that sound kind of like the ones you mean to use, your complete lack of any sense of humor, and the fact that you have never said anything interesting here.
But yeah, you keep blaming it on ideology. That’s gotta make you feel better.
James: “But it’s also just dumb for someone ostensibly running for re-election.”
It’s the Big Lie. He’s attempting to shape ‘reality’.