Jake Tapper Pressing Trump About Jan. 6 Is Peak CNN

An hours-long riot at the Capitol four years ago doesn’t even rank among the top four issues facing voters as they go to cast their ballots between two presidents this fall.

But the turmoil on Jan. 6, 2021, certainly claimed the lion’s share of coverage on CNN for the next two years, if not four, as the network became the go-to outlet for Democrats to spread conspiracies surrounding the isolated episode of right-wing violence. So naturally, the network where former Rep. Adam Kinzinger ran for a paycheck once it became clear he would never be reelected deployed debate moderator Jake Tapper to bring up the subject in Thursday night’s 90-minute debate.

“What do you say to voters who believe that you violated [your constitutional] oath through your actions and inaction on Jan. 6, 2021, and worry that you’ll do that again,” Trump said.

Trump answered by placing blame squarely with then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who refused to accept Trump’s request for the Capitol to be reinforced by 10,000 National Guard troops for the joint session of Congress.

“I offered her 10,000 soldiers or National Guard, and she turned them down,” Trump said. Pelosi’s deputies on the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, however, refused to investigate the speaker’s conduct and even concealed evidence of Democratic leadership rejecting Capitol reinforcements.

The former president also made reference to recently published footage of Pelosi on Jan. 6 claiming “responsibility” for the security failures. Tape released from the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight this month showed the then-speaker in an SUV speaking to her chief of staff, Terri McCullough, as they were taken to Fort McNair.

“Why weren’t the National Guard there to begin with?” Pelosi asked incredulously through a face mask. “They clearly didn’t know, and I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more.”

President Joe Biden responded with the same accusations that aired on a loop over CNN’s endless panels for four years (and again in Tapper’s question): that Donald Trump “encouraged” the riot and did nothing for three hours as the violence unfolded.

“He encouraged those folks to go up on Capitol Hill,” Biden said, adding Trump “sat there for three hours, three hours, watching, begging, being begged by his vice president and a number of his colleagues on the Republican side as well, to do something, to call for a stop, to end it.”

“Instead, he talked about these people being patriots,” Biden added.

An honest look at the timeline on the day of the riot, however, reveals the Democrats’ talking points, exploited by the incumbent president, are nothing more than a far-left fantasy of Republican apathy. The three-hour timeline offered by Biden, which became one of the most popular narratives of Democrats and the media when speaking about the riot, is revisionist history for guilty partisans eager to cover up their own negligence.

The Washington Post time-stamps the first break-in at the Capitol for roughly 2:15 p.m. And according to The New York Times, Trump wasn’t even finished speaking when the first barriers around the building were breached.

Trump tweeted at 2:38 p.m. to “support our Capitol Police” and to “Stay Peaceful!”

Trump’s former director of national intelligence reminded followers on X that the former president pled with demonstrators again at 3:13 p.m. to “remain peaceful” and “respect the Law.”

But “[Tapper] didn’t mention this,” wrote Ric Grenell. Nor was Tapper going to, because this is CNN.

Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist and the author of Social Justice Redux, a conservative newsletter on culture, health, and wellness. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at [email protected]. Sign up for Tristan’s email newsletter here.