When Jan. 6 ringleaders escape consequences, our democracy pays the price

When Jan. 6 ringleaders escape consequences, our democracy pays the price

Catherine Rampell — Read time: 4 minutes

Today at 6:06 p.m. EST|Updated today at 6:50 p.m. EST

A year later, no consequences. None. Zip. Zilch.

Exactly one year after the attempted coup on Jan. 6, the most senior people responsible have yet to be held accountable. Some of the low-level rioters have been charged and sentenced, often without much or any prison time. That’s still far more punitive than anything experienced by their political ringleaders, including former president Donald Trump, the White House aides and outside advisers who coordinated his attempt to overturn the will of the voters and the 147 GOP lawmakers who voted against certifying the election’s legitimate results.

Arguably the worst punishment any of them has faced so far has been banishment from Twitter.

Not incarceration; not removal from office; not official censure; not even a fine. Just getting booted from social media platforms.

The public image of the political party they lead hasn’t suffered, either. Instead, “There is no lasting stain on the Republican brand” from Jan. 6, reports Morning Consult.

As of mid-December, according to a Morning Consult-Politico survey, 34 percent of voters said the Republican Party is “going in the right direction.” That’s 10 percentage points higher than the share saying this immediately after the attack last January.

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While being affirmed by a third of voters may not seem like a ringing endorsement, note that this figure is exactly equal to the share of voters who say the Democratic Party is headed in the right direction.

Got that? A party that now explicitly stands for subverting democracy is as likely to be seen as being on the “right track” as a party that is (quaintly!) working to protect the franchise. Voters are somehow looking at the pro-democracy party and the anti-democracy party and concluding, “Meh, they seem about equal.”

Even worse, while voters’ views of the GOP’s direction have improved in the past 12 months, their views of Democrats’ direction have deteriorated. A year ago, the share of voters who endorsed the “track” Democrats were on was seven points higher, at 41 percent.

Likewise, the GOP has not been punished where it might really matter: its campaign war chest.

Immediately after the insurrection, dozens of high-profile corporations and lobbyists condemned the violence; declared their unwavering support for a peaceful transition of power; and announced that they were halting contributions to politicians who voted against election certification or were pausing political donations altogether.

But these pledges to honor their democratic values with their wallets proved short-lived. Many resumed their regular donation activity within months, including with big gifts to 2020 election objectors.

How did this happen? How did the public forget the trauma that was the attack on our sacred seat of government?

In the initial hours and days after the attempted coup, a relatively broad group of Republicans rebuked Trump for his role in spreading the “big lie,” encouraging his followers to march upon the Capitol, and then ignoring pleas to intercede as he watched the resulting violence and destruction on TV. Even House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) acknowledged early on that Trump “bears responsibility” for the “attack on Congress by mob rioters,” and floated the idea of a censure resolution.

But in a sequence that will be familiar to those who remember the “Access Hollywood” tape story, Trump sloughed off the criticism. The base stood by him. And in no time, high-level Republican officials such as McCarthy decided it was politically safer to get back on side.

Trump’s allies began to argue that it was too soon to figure out who was truly accountable for the misinformation and incitement to violence, that more evidence needed to be gathered; now, a year later, after evidence has been gathered, they suggest too much time has passed to continue dwelling on these divisive events. It’s all ancient history!

The public, alas, seems to largely agree. Support for the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 has been sliding, according to Morning Consult. As my colleague Margaret Sullivan has written persuasively, many of us in the media have also struggled with how to center the story of a democracy still under siege, especially amid the other, less abstract crises befalling our nation.

Meanwhile, Republican officeholders have gotten more sophisticated about how to subvert the will of the voters.

Next time, no Viking-horned, pelted buffoons will be necessary; nor any attacks on brave Capitol Police officers; nor any crass congressional fist pumps to the rioters; nor, possibly, any difficult votes from federal lawmakers. Thanks to a raft of anti-democratic bills moving through GOP-controlled state legislatures, the franchise can be restricted, and both local election officials and ballots tossed, long before official vote tallies make their way to Washington.

These are the consequences of imposing no consequences.