Anyone wondering how Trump’s total control of Congress, avoiding any real checks and balances, would impact the remainder of his time as President need merely recall how this year began—with praise and pardons for the January 6 felons.
On January 6, 2021, more than 140 officers were assaulted by insurrectionists at the Capitol. Some were beaten with flagpoles, sprayed with chemical irritants like bear spray, and shocked with stun guns. In the months that followed, five officers who responded that day lost their lives—most to suicide and another to a medical complication.
Before Republicans took over, Congress approved a memorial plaque honoring the bravery of our law enforcement officers in protecting our democracy. Republicans now refuse to display it. They want us to forget our officers as true heroes and embrace the rioters as the heroes and victims. Trump promoted this attack. His rioters attempted to overthrow our government. He continues his march to tyranny and displays the same permissive attitude toward crime, so long as the criminals involved are his MAGA allies. This comes with a real cost to Americans.
When the National Guard should have been immediately deployed to protect the U.S. Capitol from the Jan. 6 insurrection, Trump was AWOL. But with DC crime rate at a 30-year low, now he is deploying them in the capital and talking about using them in other cities as he did in Los Angeles. He is laying the groundwork to militarize more American cities in the future—another page from the tyrant’s handbook.
The Trump administration is increasingly defined by vengeance, lawlessness, and demanding abject fealty. Shortly after Trump issued the pardons to around 1,600 rioters, I warned about this danger. You can watch the short ad I ran to attract the attention of those who do not read the news. If you agree with this video, I hope you will consider forwarding it to a friend.
Recall that Trump not only pardoned the January 6 rioters—he embraced them as political allies. Some have returned to the Capitol, getting red-carpet tours from Republican Members of Congress. A few of them are running for office—not hiding their criminal records but campaigning on them. One rioter has even been hired to work at the Department of Justice in a senior role as part of the so-called “Weaponization Working Group”—a group designed to protect and encourage Trump’s criminal MAGA loyalists. Others are seeking to monetize their crimes.
Make no mistake. These violent individuals assaulted our first responders with weapons. Trump celebrates that depravity. You can read some of the profiles of the rioters here. Trump has even issued pardons for unrelated crimes, rewarding criminality as long as it’s committed by those in service to him. And now, the Trump administration will pay nearly $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt, the Trump supporter who was shot and killed as she attempted to force her way into the House chamber on Jan. 6.
In yet another authoritarian move, as a former U.S. attorney in Michigan explains, Trump’s additional pardons for white-collar criminals may have the effect of normalizing serious, nonviolent crimes—achieving Trump’s goal of “No MAGA left behind.” A new report estimates that all of Trump’s pardons from this year, including these rioters, have cost the American taxpayers more than $1.3 billion. Putting that amount into perspective, that is more than twice the amount of yearly federal funding that Republicans denied PBS and NPR. Trump’s idea of budgeting is substituting honest reporting for dishonest, violent MAGA insurrectionists.
Yet my hope remains. More and more of our neighbors are becoming engaged. That is how we make progress. Trump will only go as far as we permit him. It’s up to us to draw the line—and stand firm. I welcome your good counsel.
