Opinion: Panicky texts to Mark Meadows paint a damning picture

Editor’s Note: Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and author of the book “OK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind.” Follow her on Twitter. Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert claimed “There’s no evidence, as has been said on January 7, that this was an armed insurrection.” Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks said he didn’t know if his staff participated in the riot, “but if they did I’d be proud of them for helping to put together a rally lawful under the First Amendment at the ellipse to protest voter fraud and election theft.” Several Republican congressmen and close Trump associates spoke at the rally that preceded the violence, and, even after the attacks, a number of Republicans have continued to push the totally false claim that the election was stolen. Ingraham – who only hours earlier had begged Meadows to get the then-president to act – went on air and without evidence blamed Antifa for any violence, emphasizing “legitimate concerns about how these elections were conducted.” She later invited one rioter onto her show for a sympathetic interview in which Ingraham suggested the term “insurrection” was an exaggeration and responded to the woman’s story by saying, “I can’t even believe I’m hearing any of this.” Ingraham empathized about how “traumatic” facing consequences must have been. When Capitol police officers testified before Congress about the violence they endured on Jan. 6, Ingraham made fun of them in a segment called “The Angle Awards for today’s best performances.” Hannity called the 2020 elections “a train wreck” and said most Republicans “do not have faith in these election results.” He did not, however, use his own platform to foster that faith. Fox Nation, Fox News’ streaming service, has even aired an entire propaganda program hosted by Carlson that furthers the bizarre flat-out lie that Jan. 6 was a “false flag” operation.