When it comes to Jan. 6, Trump loses all sense of reality 

Jan. 6, 2021 is a day that will live in infamy. Following the attack on the Capitol, 1,600 defendants were charged. One hundred-forty officers were injured, including Brian Sicknick, who died the next day. Four other officers later committed suicide.  

For years, President Trump and his fellow Republicans have sought to recast the events of that day. Trump called it a “day of love.” Recently, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told reporters it had been a “self-made riot by people who hate Trump.” 

Today, the price of admission into Trump’s Republican Party is to accept the bald-faced lie that the 2020 election was stolen, and the violence of Jan. 6 either did not happen or was staged.

Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) put it this way: “This is Trump’s Republican Party. The rest of us have the privilege of living in it.” That “privilege” requires acceptance of Trump’s rewrite of American history.

But Trump’s version of history is running afoul of Republicans who fear voter retribution is coming this November. After Trump sued his own government for leaking information about his tax returns, the Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion settlement. The money, Trump said, is to be paid to people who were “really treated brutally by a system that was so corrupt with corrupt people running it,” among whom he likely intends to include Jan. 6 rioters.

Senate Republicans demurred. Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said he was “not a big fan.” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) called it a “galactic blunder.” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said the settlement was “stupid on stilts.”........

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