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What was Trump's endgame on January 6? I have a theory. (thread)
1/11
1/11
He couldn't stop the certification of the Electoral College ballots. Mike Pence had already told him he wouldn't play along with that scenario. So what did he have to gain by sending a violent mob to the Capitol? 2/11
I believe he wanted violence to occur. Maybe the police would kill some rioters or the rioters would kill some cops. Either way that would justify the time-honored authoritarian technique of suspending elections. Specifically, by invoking the Insurrection Act. 3/11
Trump had been threatening to use that measure since at least June 2020, as this NPR article outlines. 4/11 https://www.npr.org/2020/06/01/867467714/what-is-the-insurrection-act-that-trump-is-threatening-to-invoke
People who had Trump's ear, including Sidney Powell and Mike Flynn, were beating the drum for him to use the Insurrection Act in December. 5/11 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/18/trump-insurrection-act-presidency-447986
Around that same time, the Gateway Pundit website was reporting that "the Oath Keepers called on President Trump to use the Insurrection Act to 'Stop the Steal' and defeat the coup." 6/11
(Twitter won't allow me to link to that site.)
(Twitter won't allow me to link to that site.)
Gateway Pundit has been cited approvingly in footnotes by Trump's impeachment defense lawyers. Three leaders of the Oath Keepers have been indicted for conspiracy for their role in the January 6 riots. 7/11 https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/three-individuals-affiliated-oath-keepers-indicted-federal-court-conspiracy-obstruct
Trump's favorite network, OAN, was advocating on January 5: "One of President Trump’s so-called nuclear options is to declare a national emergency, enact the Insurrection Act, and suspend the Electoral College..." 8/11 https://www.mediamatters.org/one-america-news-network/oan-airs-call-trump-use-insurrection-act-overturn-election
So why didn't it happen? Maybe because the police were too effective at protecting Congress and too restrained to open fire and create a horrifying bloodbath that would have created the excuse for Trump to play his final card. 9/11
I think that's what he was waiting for all afternoon and why he wasn't returning calls or ordering in reinforcements. He wanted things to get worse and was frustrated that the plan didn't work as expected. 10/11
We'll probably never know, but that's the only explanation that makes any sense to me. Everybody in the Capitol, and the entire country, dodged a bullet.
11/fin
11/fin
