From Insurrection to In Charge: How Trump Made America Forget About Jan. 6

America’s selective amnesia about the Jan. 6 insurrection will have long-lasting implications for our democracy and our country.

Rioters outside the U.S. Capitol building holding U.S. flags and "Make America Great Again" flags. Photo by Tyler Merber via Wikimedia Commons

I still remember Jan. 6, 2021 like it was yesterday.

My phone buzzed with notifications about rioters breaching the U.S. Capitol building. I quickly turned on the TV and watched in horror as a violent mob attempted to overturn the results of a free and fair election.

Most of all, I remember Jan. 6 as my political awakening. Seeing the sitting president of the U.S. refuse to accept defeat to the point of inciting a violent mob attack on our Capitol made me feel ashamed of my country and fearful for the state of our democracy.

For many, the events of Jan. 6 made it abundantly clear that Donald Trump should never again be given power or be trusted to uphold the Constitution.

Numerous high-ranking officials from Trump’s first administration came forward to tell the public exactly that.

“The American people deserve to know that on [Jan. 6], President Trump also demanded that I choose between him and the constitution,” said Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence. “I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.”

“Someone who engaged in that kind of bullying about a [democratic] process that is fundamental to our system and to our self-government shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office,” added Trump’s former Attorney General Bill Barr.

“[Trump is] a person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution and the rule of law,” warned Trump’s former White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly. 

Yet those pleas largely fell on deaf ears, as nearly 74 million Americans decided that what occurred on Jan. 6 was not enough to prevent them from voting for the man responsible. 

How did Trump manage to evade responsibility with voters? It’s simple: for many voters, the nation’s current economic, immigration and societal issues under the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration far outweighed any concerns they held over Jan. 6.

Even America’s youngest voters are gravely concerned about the current state of affairs and seek a rule-breaker to run the country. Recently, I joined a team of student researchers and advisors from the Marist Poll; we found that among Gen Z likely voters, 66% agreed or strongly agreed that America has gotten so far off-track that a rule-breaking leader is needed to set things right.

Additionally, 60% of likely Gen Z voters said addressing inflation should be the next president’s top priority, while 66% believed that a young person today will be unlikely to own their own home by age 35.

Trump capitalized on these and many other fears, painting the Biden-Harris administration as entirely incapable of fixing the nation’s urgent issues. He was so successful that swing voters became largely unmoved by negative messages about Trump’s authoritarian tendencies.

As a result, Trump and his allies will now control the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the federal bureaucracy and the Supreme Court. Accordingly, the U.S. now seems primed to enter a period of democratic backsliding, during which key democratic institutions and norms are gradually eroded.

Trump plans to revive an unprecedented executive order enabling him to gut the federal bureaucracy of up to 50,000 non-partisan employees and replace them with thousands of loyalists trained to implement his agenda. This will almost assuredly lead to the destruction of the Department of Education, the weakening of the Environmental Protection Agency and the politicization of the Justice Department, which will empower Trump to pursue criminal prosecutions of his perceived enemies.

The consequences will be far-reaching and long-lasting for generations to come. Books that detail racial diversity and gender identity will continue to be banned from thousands of classrooms and replaced with Bibles. The Biden administration’s successful effort to cut emissions by 40% over the next half-decade will likely be severely curtailed. The top 1% will pay even less in taxes, further exacerbating the wealth gap and corporate greed. And American consumers will continue to take it on the chin financially, once Trump institutes his proposed import tariffs, as retailers plan to pass increased costs onto consumers. 

Buckle up, America. We’re in for a bumpy ride, one that Americans willingly signed up for. In doing so, voters valued disrupting the status quo over preserving democracy — an exchange we may come to deeply regret.