How the storming of the US Capitol is perceived three years later

Three years ago today, the US Capitol was stormed by Trump supporters. The perception of these events has now shifted in the USA – in favor of the former US President.

Luca from Seattle stands on the steps of the Capitol in Washington on the eve of the anniversary. Today there is nothing there that reminds us of the uprising by Trump supporters. The protective fences are no longer there either. Luca thinks of the angry Trump supporters who kicked in the doors and smashed the windows. “They were all idiots and deranged people,” she says, “they believed lying media that didn’t tell the truth.”

For other Capitol visitors, like Michael from Chicago, the assessment is not so clear. “I think a lot of questionable things happened in the last presidential election,” Michael points out, “all the postal votes that only came in at the very end were for Joe Biden.”

The wildest conspiracy theories circulate

Although there is no evidence to date to support Trump’s claim that the election was stolen from him, the wildest conspiracy theories surrounding the storming of the US Capitol continue to circulate. A recent Washington Post poll found that a quarter of all Americans believe that the FBI instigated the riot. Among Republicans it is even 35 percent.

“The FBI has a lot of heinous things on its radar,” says Nick from Atlanta on the steps of the Capitol, “they were involved in the murders of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.” That’s why Nick wouldn’t be at all surprised if the FBI also had a hand in the storming of the Capitol.

Biden: Trump Republicans have abandoned the truth

Change of scene: Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, last night. “On January 6th, during the attack, no one doubted the truth,” said President Biden yesterday in his first campaign speech of the election year. “At the time, even Republican lawmakers and Fox News commentators condemned the riots,” the president points out.

And not only that: in 2021, 52 percent of all Americans thought that Donald Trump bore a high degree of responsibility for the riots. Just one year later, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center, it was only 43 percent – and the trend is falling. Biden has an explanation for this shift: “Partisan politics, fear and money have caused MAGA Republicans to abandon truth and democracy” (note: MAGA is an acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan). In his memorial speech on the storming of the Capitol, Biden repeatedly tried to brand his challenger as a threat to democracy.

Trump presents Biden as Threat to democracy represents

Trump himself was also on the campaign trail in Sioux Center. In the state of Iowa, where the primary season begins in nine days. Not a word was said about his role three years ago. As he so often does, Trump turned the tables and branded Biden a threat to democracy: He had politicized the justice system in order to use unfair means to destroy him, whom he could not beat in democratic elections.

“That’s why dishonest Joe stammers in his pathetic, fear-mongering speech that I’m a threat to democracy,” Trump said. Full of malice, Trump mimicked Biden’s verbal blunders: “He’s a danger to the demo, dome, e, a, democrat… he can’t get it read from the teleprompter!” Trump is sure to get a laugh in the room.

The Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for US president knows that his supporters would forgive him just about anything if he just ends the Biden era. According to a Washington Post poll, 82 percent of Republican voters think a Biden victory in November would damage democracy. And 70 percent said the storming of the Capitol, three years ago today, was overrated.