According to a new poll, more than six in ten Americans believe federal government agents helped incite the January 2021 Capitol riot, implying that legacy media outlets have largely failed to brand the incident as an insurgency instigated by then-President Donald Trump.
According to a Rasmussen Reports poll released this week, 61% of US voters believe the feds probably helped spur Trump supporters to breach the Capitol, with the majority seeing that scenario as “very likely.” Only 30% of Americans believe undercover agents were involved in the riot, with 18% saying it’s “not at all likely.”
Rasmussen claims that its findings reflect a dramatic shift in public opinion in the two years since the riot. For example, in the week following the incident, half of Americans believed Trump should be removed from office and imprisoned for causing his supporters to storm Congress and disrupt certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory. By the end of 2021, 58% of voters believed the congressional committee tasked with investigating the riot had devolved into a “partisan committee weaponized against innocent Americans.”
Over 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes in connection with their alleged involvement in the riot. Many of the defendants have reportedly been held in jail under harsh conditions, with no option to post bail. Republican lawmakers have speculated that undercover government agents were involved in the riot, and they have questioned why an Arizona man named Ray Epps, who was seen on video urging Trump supporters to enter the Capitol, has not been charged.
According to the most recent poll, 70% of Republicans and 57% of Democrats and independent voters now believe the feds played a role in inciting the riot. Approximately 80% of all voters agree that all video footage of the riot should be made public.
A separate Rasmussen poll released this week found that 34% of US voters support Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s idea of a “national divorce” between Republican and Democratic states. Only one-third believe Biden is keeping his campaign promise to bring the country together.
