Not long after MAGA supporters spilling over from President Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally in D.C. began storming the Capitol, it became obvious what narrative would be pushed by high profile rightwing figures: “This isn’t us. These aren’t Trump supporters. These are Antifa infiltrators.”
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The rumblings started before the Capitol was even cleared out. Laura Ingraham went on Fox News to push the conspiracy theory. Actor Kevin Sorbo spread the baseless claim on Twitter. Later, representative Matt Gaetz used his time addressing the House of Representatives to insist Antifa was responsible for this terrorism.
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“I don’t know if the reports are true, but The Washington Times has just reported some pretty compelling evidence from a facial recognition company showing that some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters. They were masquerading as Trump supporters and were, in fact, members of the violent terrorist group Antifa,” Gaetz said, citing a deeply unreliable rightwing publication and an article that includes claims that have already been debunked.
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While it’s impossible at this point to say whether anyone who broke into the Capitol was merely masquerading as a Trump supporter — though there is zero evidence to suggest this is the case — we do know without a doubt that some of the criminals present were members of QAnon, Nazis, and MAGA cult members.
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A newly elected member of the West Virginia House of Delegates — a pro-Trump Republican — was also among those storming the Capitol.
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Yet right-wing figures continue to push their baseless conspiracy theories because they’ve learned time and time again that there’s no consequence for at least trying to disseminate false information. And at best, they may convince people what they’re saying is true, removing the blame from the actual domestic terrorists — predominantly white Trump supporters.
For anyone who takes a moment to think things through, it’s not a leap to see that people who flew all the way out to D.C. to listen to Rudy Giuliani demand a “trial by combat” and Trump himself urge them to “take back our country” might break into a federal building and demand lawmakers’ attention with violence and chaos.
And even if anyone was unable to connect the dots to see where this was all heading prior to Wednesday afternoon, the proof is in the pictures. This was not Antifa. This was white supremacists, it was Donald Trump supporters, it was Republicans. There is no “other” for rightwing figures to blast as the enemy here. This domestic terrorism was enacted by their own.
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*First Published: January 7, 2021, 7:55 am
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