A bizarre spectacle unfolded over the weekend in which Donald Trump’s proponents and adversaries alike engaged in biblical exegesis in their analysis of the former president’s forecast that a “bloodbath” would follow his loss in November’s elections. The whole affair had the feel of Trump’s first term, but it came at the expense of litigating his intentions for his second. As the intoxicating high of that nostalgic exercise has subsided, however, the press has begun to parse elements of that same rally more relevant to current political circumstances. Among them, the president’s conspicuous effort to create a martyrology around the January 6 rioters.
The Associated Press is on the case today. Its belated dispatch from Trump’s Ohio rally over the weekend detailed what has become the former president’s stock opening bit: apologia for the rioters. Trump raises his hand “in salute” as “a recorded chorus of prisoners in jail for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack” sing the national anthem. An announcer appeals to the crowd’s empathy “for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6th hostages,” which the audience eagerly provides. “They were unbelievable patriots,” Trump insisted, having previously vowed to pardon the rioters on his first day in office. And he seems to mean it. “President Trump will restore justice for all Americas who have been unfairly treated,” said campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt when pressed.
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