President Trump has made promises, kept promises, and liked to brag during his first term, sometimes deservedly so.
It has only been days since his second term and already He makes this claim After a torrent of executive orders. In no way is his boast more justified, if shameful, than the blanket pardon he issued on day one. 1,583 rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, commuted the sentences of those most responsible — and violent — and dismissed all remaining cases.
Trump pledged at rallies throughout his 2024 campaign that once he returned to office he would immediately release the “J-6 hostages.” However, save Which He broke a long-forgotten promise on the same subject. He did so not at a political rally but in a… Video recording At the White House, a day after the seven-hour insurrection was put down, and while facing bipartisan condemnation for his complicity.
Opinion columnist
Jackie Calmes
Jackie Calmes takes a critical look at the national political landscape. She has decades of experience covering the White House and Congress.
The president who inspired the mob to try to keep him in power began that evening by calling January 6th “not a”Valentine’s DayAmong patriots, he says these days, but it was “a heinous attack on the United States Capitol.” And then, still sounding like a normal president, Trump said:
“Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, chaos, and chaos. I immediately deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building and expel the intruders. America is, and must always be, a nation of law and order. The protesters who infiltrated the Capitol desecrated the seat of American democracy.” To those who participated in acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country and to those who violated the law You will pay“.
At that only time lies in this passage This appears to be Trump’s claim that he “immediately deployed” troops to quell the unrest that directly or indirectly caused the death of nine people, including five police officers. Now we know it was all a lie: Trump wasn’t angry. He didn’t really condemn the “protesters” — they were Trump supporters, after all, as evidenced by the signs pinned to poles that were used as weapons against police. He did not care that they were lawless or violent, despite the carnage he witnessed as he watched hours of televised coverage alone in the White House, ignoring pleas from aides and family members to intervene.
Most important of all, Trump didn’t really believe it for him The troublemakers must “pay.”
Now, just as Trump has paid no price for his role as instigator of the events of January 6, he has wiped the books clean on all the attackers, vacating the verdicts of dozens of juries of their peers.
An example of a “hostage” released: David Dempsey of Santa Ana, California, a man with a criminal history who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, reflecting his brutality against police. Read Prosecution report: Dempsey climbed on top of other rioters, using “his hands, feet, flag poles, crutches, pepper spray, broken pieces of furniture, and anything else he could get his hands on” to strike officers trying to protect the Capitol and those inside., Including Vice President Trump.
Daniel “DJ” Rodriguez of Fontana, California, who ran a website for the so-called “Patriots 45 MAGA” gang that mobilized gunmen to come to the Capitol; Once there, he bludgeoned police with a fire extinguisher, poles and a stun gun, which he repeatedly shoved into the neck of D.C. Police Officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack among other injuries. “I was suddenly blown away,” Rodriguez posted afterward. Inside the Capitol, he vandalized offices, broke windows and stole items. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
By Tuesday, two of the biggest federal wins — far-right militia leaders Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys (age 22) and Stuart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers (age 18) — will likewise receive He got out of prison. “The idea of Stuart Rhodes being exonerated for his actions is frightening and should be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy in this country,” said U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who presided over his trial. He said Last month, anticipating Trump’s actions.
Lots of these stories. However, Trump’s order is largely false: “This advertisement Ends the grave national injustice committed against the American people over the past four years and begins the process of national reconciliation.
Now-retired Officer Fanone, who courageously testified before a House committee on January 6 and received death threats because of it, is not. Feeling reconciled. With all six identified attackers now free (and free to own weapons), he posted on Instagram: “Me, my family, and my children are less safe today because of Donald Trump and his supporters.”
The master dribbler has also made liars out of those around him. Vice President J.D. Vance He said Fox News Sunday a week ago: “If you committed acts of violence that day, you clearly should not be pardoned.” clearly? Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, to attest Days later, at her Senate confirmation hearing, a clemency decision will be made “on a case-by-case basis.” “I abhor violence against police officers.” If confirmed, she would now implement Trump’s sweeping diktat, ensuring prisons and court dockets are purged of those who beat hundreds of police officers.
What’s disgusting is that Republicans, instead of just condemning Trump, are doing this Draw a false equation between His actions and the preemptive pardon issued by former President Biden at the last minute for his brothers and their spouses. Biden deserves blame – a lot – for giving Republicans that opportunity, despite Trump An explicit threat For legal retribution from his family. However, there is no comparison between Biden’s unwanted pardon and Trump’s abhorrent blanket clemency toward traitors.
Trump kept his campaign promise, an abhorrent one, but in the process he broke an appropriate previous promise – to make them pay. With the January 6 pardon, he made a mockery of the rule of law. On his first day as president.