By Andy Brack
The continuing string of nonsense that spews from former President Donald Trump’s mouth is like a bad stream-of-consciousness novel.
The latest jaw-dropping babble came during a televised Univision town hall on Oct. 16: Trump now says the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was a “day of love.”
Enough. Enough spin. Enough deceit.
Do you remember Jan. 6 as a “day of love” as you recall enraged people climbing the walls of the Capitol, assaulting law enforcement officers, smashing doors and rampaging through a national symbol of freedom? Remember the guy wearing the Viking hat?
That was a day of love? What planet is this former president from? Jan. 6, 2021 was an unbelievable attack on democracy incited by a man who couldn’t come to grips that he lost an election. And now this loser wants back into the office? The madness has to stop.
During the town hall, a Florida Republican voter outlined how he was giving the former president the chance to win back his vote after Trump’s “action and maybe inaction during your presidency and the last few years was sort of a little disturbing to me.” The Latino voter also said he was concerned about slow action during the pandemic and the large number of former administration officials who no longer supported him.
Trump shrugged it off, spinning away from reality by saying, “That was a day of love from the standpoint of millions, hundreds of thousands, it could have been, the largest group I’ve ever spoken before.”
Again, a day of love? Violence, looting, riots, death? That’s not how Trump described the attack on Jan. 7, when he said the people engaged in “acts of violence and destruction” did not “represent our country” and “will pay.”
And that’s surely not how a former U.S. Capitol Police officer remembers it after being repeatedly assaulted on Jan. 6.
“They almost ‘loved me’ to death,” the former officer, Aquilino Gonell, told NBC News. “I guess a lot of people were hugging me and kissing me. I should be thankful, I guess, according to him, because I lost my career, because I lost my health, I lost my financial stability, my mental health paid a price. And that’s a result of that ‘day of love,’ as he continues to say nothing happened.”
Gonell pointed out more than 140 officers were hurt and people lost lives during the attack.
“Democracy was in shambles because of what he did, because he refused to concede.”
Reasonable Americans who watched what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump incited a mob should know he is lying. And as they head to the polls in November, they should realize his whole political campaign is built upon a house of lying cards that will cave to autocrats and seriously threaten the future of American freedom and democracy.
It’s better to listen in earnest to the true supporter of democracy in the race – Vice President Kamala Harris – who built a career prosecuting liars and crooks like Trump, the convicted felon. She wants to build opportunities for Americans, not tear them down. In contrast to Trump’s continuing spin, listen to her vision she related during the same week in a Pennsylvania rally with more than 100 Republicans:
“We here know the Constitution is not a relic from our past, but determines whether we are a country where the people can speak freely, and even criticize the president, without fear of being thrown in jail, or targeted by the military. Where the people can worship as they choose without the government interfering. Where you can vote without fear that your vote will be thrown away. All this and more depends on whether or not our leaders honor their oath to the Constitution.”
She pointed out how Trump tried to overturn the will of Americans on Jan. 6 and has called on the military to go after Americans who don’t support him. She said he must not have unchecked power.
“If you share that view, no matter your party, no matter who you voted for last time: There is a place for you in this campaign. The coalition we have built has room for everyone who is ready to turn the page on the chaos and instability of Donald Trump.”
Hear, hear.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send it to feedback@statehousereport.com.
