Most Americans believe that Donald Trump holds at least some responsibility for the violence at the Capitol that was seen on January 6, 2021, though some of the arguments recently batted around in court amid the ex-president’s wide-ranging criminal proceedings reflect the opposite idea.
In polling from The Washington Post and the University of Maryland, 37 percent said Trump had a “great deal” of responsibility for that day’s violent events, while 16 percent deemed Trump to have a “good amount” of responsibility. An additional 18 percent said Trump had “just some” responsibility for what happened. And roughly the same portion of Americans think the punishments doled out so far against individual participants in the Capitol attack have been at least somewhat appropriate, though some — more than one-third of overall respondents — want steeper consequences. Those who deemed the legal punishments “fair” were at 35 percent, while 38 percent said they weren’t “harsh enough.”
The polling has an end date of December 18. The findings on how many Americans think legal consequences for Capitol riot participants haven’t gone far enough suggest that Trump’s campaign line about wanting to potentially pardon these individuals if he regains the presidency won’t sway a lot of people. He also continues effectively campaigning on the still unsupported claim that the 2020 election was somehow stolen through covert fraud that swung the outcome, which credible authorities of both major political parties across levels of government both state and federal have consistently refuted.
Some are still worrying about a perceived threat of political violence connected to Trump. After she delivered an initial decision against the renewed GOP presidential contender appearing on ballots in her state for the unfolding race over his argued ties to January 6, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has faced threatening communications and even a swatting incident. Swatting refers to the placement of a law enforcement call using faked details that’s oriented around spurring an often serious response by local authorities to a targeted address. In general, a perpetrator might make a false claim of a hostage situation, for instance.
