Voter Fraud Protestors Have Lost Their Credibility

Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6 claiming widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Source.

January 6th, 202 will be a day that history books record in perpetuity. It has been a painful year for the United States due to the pandemic, protests, the election, and now a mob invading the US Capitol in Washington, DC in broad daylight. 

The idea this could happen in the US is astonishing. You may be asking yourself, how did this happen? January 6th was the day on which Congress was set to officially confirm Joe Biden as the next president. Since the election in early November, many Republicans, particularly Trump supporters, have made claims of widespread voter fraud which resulted in Biden’s victory. There have been numerous protests since and Trump has persistently claimed there was fraud, which led to the protests in the Capitol on January 6th.  

Questions are being asked about the lack of preparedness by the police and the US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund resigned two days after the incident. In addition, some are upset that the police seemed to welcome the protests, and were not in riot gear, like they were at many of the nationwide Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests over the summer. Although the police were not in riot gear, weapons were drawn and tear gas was deployed. These protests did look different than the protests for the BLM, this might be because the police were simply unprepared or it may be because the protests were not directed at the police. Whatever the case may be, five people have died and many have been arrested. 

The protests began peacefully but quickly devolved into a mob scaling the walls and breaking the windows. Many of the protestors claim they had no intention of entering the building but decided to go in once they heard that Vice President Pence would not try to change the electors’ decision to confirm Joe Biden as President. Furthermore, a select few say Pence is part of the establishment, some even suggesting that he is a pedophile and that the only reason he is Vice President is due to Trump’s willingness to give him an opportunity for redemption. While absurd on the face, this logic is endemic to some of Trump's most fervent supporters. As the President, he can do no wrong in their eyes.

Politicians quickly denounced the actions of the protestors and Trump uploaded a video the next day on Twitter condemning the actions stating “those who broke the law, you will pay.” For many, however, this was not enough as they believe Trump coordinated the event and have since called for his removal prior to January 20th.

Trump supporters have gone on the defense and claim the mob was started by Antifa activists posing as Trump supporters in order to discredit the protests. In addition, some personal accounts have stated the police openly allowed them to go in knowing it would result in chaos. So far, there is no evidence of these claims and even if the police did allow the protestors to enter, they still should not have caused a riot. 

This event will result in some wholeheartedly supporting the election fraud investigations while others will back away due to loss of credibility and unwillingness to be associated with the event. This event also promises to be a PR nightmare for the Republican party, although many Republicans have condemned the actions. Furthermore, the raid at the US Capitol seems to be hypocritical. Many of those in attendance at the raid, and the politicians who egged them on, were upset with the violence that ensued over the summer in relation to the BLM protests, yet they too have violence associated with their efforts. Although the raid is not representative of the party as a whole, any criticism Republicans had about the BLM protests in 2020 is null and void due to the abomination that occurred at the US Capitol. The very thing they were critical of has now affected them.

What happened at the US Capitol was heinous, but it illustrates how easily the exercising of the First Amendment can quickly be corrupted by those who seek chaos. Sadly, protests of all kinds have experienced such mayhem.