OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
An MSNBC journalist was shut down cold by a focus group after she pushed certain narratives regarding the riot at the U.S. Capitol Building in January 2021.
The focus group consisted of 10 Pittsburgh-area supporters of former President Donald Trump, and when the journalist, Elise Jordan, pushed certain Democratic talking points regarding the incident, members of the group pushed back hard. Jordan began by saying that Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano was at the “insurrection,” and asked if that ought to disqualify him from running and holding office.
“Which area? Because I saw a video where Capitol officers were taking away barriers and unlocking doors,” one person responded, with The Western Journal adding:
Other focus group members agreed with his statement and pointed out other inconsistencies not seen in establishment media reports about the events that day. The group unanimously agreed that given Mastriano’s actions on Jan. 6 were not violent, he should still be able to run for office with no problems.
One woman noted that the only person to be killed during the Capitol incursion was Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed female protester and U.S. military veteran who was shot to death by a Capitol Police officer.
Jordan responded by claiming that “a police officer did die” — a reference to Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died of natural causes after the incident, not during the riot and not due to any direct injuries received from rioters, an autopsy found.
As the MSNBC correspondent continued to press them to agree that the Jan. 6 incident was really a violent insurrection, many in the focus group countered by contrasting what happened at the Capitol with the multitude of riots that took place for months throughout the summer and fall of 2020, most of them instigated by far-left groups like Black Lives Matter and Antifa — to include the siege of a federal courthouse in Portland for more than a month.
“So what do you make, though, overall of Jan. 6. I mean, it was, watching that footage, it was pretty disturbing. I mean, there were people throwing excrement at the walls, and it was, you know, it was the Capitol,” Jordan noted.
“It was a lot like Antifa’s actions,” a woman in the group fired back. Another man added, “Except on a much smaller scale, it looked the same as the Black Lives Matter riots.”
Others noted that during those riots, billions of dollars in damage were done, dozens of people were killed, and hundreds of police officers were injured.
“Anybody who harmed anybody, anybody who caused property destruction, that needs to be dealt with,” said a participant.
“But if you’re there making your voice heard at the People’s House, no less, that’s, again, a fundamental, constitutional right of an American citizen, and people should not be being held political prisoner because of it,” added another.
The group was praised on social media, including receiving plaudits from The Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway.
“This is legitimately impressive how these well-informed American voters not only never fell for the propaganda press narrative but are in real-time correcting the disinformation being pushed by one of the corporate media operatives,” she noted on Twitter in a post that included a video clip of the exchanges.
This is legitimately impressive how these well-informed American voters not only never fell for the propaganda press narrative but are in real time correcting the disinformation being pushed by one of the corporate media operatives. https://t.co/6mpwilt1Az
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) October 24, 2022
Meanwhile, the House committee set up to look into the riot — itself accused of rampant partisanship favoring majority Democrats — has issued a subpoena to the former president to compel his testimony. And according to reports, he appears eager to tell his side.
According to a source close to Trump, he said he “loves the idea of testifying” before the committee, Fox News reported late Thursday afternoon. The source added that Trump wants to highlight “how Nancy Pelosi did not call up the National Guard” to protect the Capitol before his rally that day, as well as other issues.
The source also said that if Trump complied with the subpoena, he would also “talk about how corrupt the election was, how corrupt the committee was, and how Nancy Pelosi did not call up the National Guard that Trump strongly recommended for her to do three days earlier on January 3, 2021.” In addition, the source said that it wasn’t clear if Trump will, in fact, comply, but that he “loves the idea” of talking to the panel.
After the subpoena was issued, Trump spoke exclusively to Fox News, calling the entire investigation by the panel of seven Democrats and two Republicans who voted to impeach him a sham.
“The committee is a hoax, a sham, a partisan witch hunt which is a continuation of the witch hunt that has gone on since the great day for our country that I came down the golden escalator with our future first lady,” Trump said, without indicating whether he would agree to testify. “They have no case, they have no ratings, so they have to try to do this to get publicity.”
