A new webpage under the official whitehouse.gov domain, rolled out five years after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, rewrites the history of the attack on the Capitol that took place as Congress was affirming Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
The website expresses views long promoted by President Trump that the Jan. 6 attack was a “peaceful march,” blames Capitol Police for “escalating tensions,” and repeats Mr. Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
“The Democrats masterfully reversed reality after January 6, branding peaceful patriotic protesters as ‘insurrectionists’ and framing the event as a violent coup attempt orchestrated by Trump—despite no evidence of armed rebellion or intent to overthrow the government,” the new webpage says.
White House spokesperson Steven Cheung posted a link to it on social media and wrote “Want to know the TRUTH? Get all the facts here.” The White House’s official X account also posted a link to it, writing “Now see the REAL Jan. 6 story.”
Thousands of Trump supporters descended on the Capitol that day and breached the building after smashing through windows on the first floor. They vandalized the Capitol, forced the evacuation of lawmakers and their staff and assaulted police officers on site with flagpoles, bear spray and other objects. More than 150 officers were injured. Five police officers who served at the Capitol died in the days and weeks afterward.
One woman, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed by Capitol Police as a crowd tried to enter the House chamber, while three others died amid the chaos.
On the day Mr. Trump was inaugurated for his second term, he pardoned more than 1,500 people who were convicted or charged in the attack, among them, individuals convicted of violent and serious crimes, including assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy.
The new webpage puts forth a different view of the president’s clemency, declaring Mr. Trump pardoned “January 6 defendants who were unfairly targeted, overcharged, and used as political examples. They were not protected by the leaders who failed them. They were punished to cover incompetence.”
It’s a version of history that Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, disputed on the Senate floor Tuesday, as he stood by a Jan. 6 plaque commemorating the officers who protected the Capitol and Congress on Jan. 6. “We let bad people go,” he said, noting that some of the pardoned rioters have been arrested again.
The White House webpage claims that when the crowd arrived at the Capitol that day, “Capitol Police aggressively fire tear gas, flash bangs, and rubber munitions into crowds of peaceful protesters, injuring many and deliberately escalating tensions.” It goes on to claim, “Video evidence shows officers inexplicably removing barricades, opening Capitol doors, and even waving attendees inside the building—actions that facilitated entry—while simultaneously deploying violent force against others. These inconsistent and provocative tactics turned a peaceful demonstration into chaos.”
The site does not include accounts by some police officers in congressional testimony that conflict with the White House version. One officer described it as “a war scene.”
The webpage also claims former Vice President Mike Pence could have rejected the electoral votes but chose “not to exercise that power in an act of cowardice and sabotage,” even though the vice president’s role in certifying Biden’s victory was ceremonial. Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, appeared to take issue with the White House characterization, re-posting it on X with the comment, “And I guess yall would have been okay if Kamala had refused to certify the 2024 results?”
Some Capitol rioters chanted outside the chamber “hang Mike Pence” as they attempted to stop the proceedings.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Mr. Trump was impeached by the House for inciting the riot, but he was acquitted by the Senate. He was later indicted by a federal grand jury for attempting to overthrow the election.
Mr. Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He never stood trial on the charges, which were eventually dropped when he returned to office last year.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was also targeted on Jan. 6 by rioters, who broke into her office and chanted “Where’s Nancy?” as her staff hid. Her daughter, documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, captured footage of the then-Speaker saying during the riot that she takes “full responsibility” for not being better prepared for security failures.
The new webpage prominently puts the blame on Pelosi for “security lapses” that “invited the chaos [Democrats] later exploited to seize and consolidate power. “
Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, was asked about the website’s claims that the Capitol police response escalated tensions. She told reporters “I disagree with that completely.”
“I was there that day. I was on the floor,” Collins said. “I heard the rioters going past the chamber chanting ‘hang Mike Pence, hang Mike Pence.’ I saw him being rushed out, they clearly put him in danger. And I thought the Capitol Police were heroic.”
