Jacob Ogles
The Lincoln Project released an ad marking 100 days since the Capitol riots. And the anti-Trump group isn’t ignoring the quiet threat to democracy that occurred inside chambers either.
“One hundred days ago, the Capitol fell, the American flag lowered,” a narrator recounts. “One-hundred-and-forty-seven Republicans voted to throw out millions of Black votes.”
Images of rioters on Jan. 6, climbing the Capitol Complex exterior and replacing an American flag with one for former President Donald Trump’s failed reelection campaign.
“January 6, 2021 was a horrific day for democracy,” reads a lengthy statement from The Lincoln Project. “Never before in American history has an American president encouraged a mob to overthrow our government and kill our leaders to overturn an election in an attempt to retain power. That should never happen in a democratic society with free and fair elections.”.
It’s especially notable the ad, in the same three-minute segment showing hordes of Trump supporter storming the citadel of democracy, lumps together all members of Congress who voted against certifying slates of electors in states that went to President Joe Biden. Those 147 members included 12 Florida representatives and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.
And the organization entirely laid blame on the former Republican President whose tenure in office inspired the formation of The Lincoln Project.
“The insurrectionists, the Sedition Caucus, and former President Trump took a fundamental piece of who we are and soiled it,” The Lincoln Project statement continues. “They desecrated our image of ourselves and our neighbors. They left us shell shocked, terrified, raw, and exposed on a global stage. They were not ‘patriots’ as they like to refer to themselves. No, these were treasonous anarchists who had spent years being brainwashed by a narcissistic, inept, wannabe dictator who used them to stroke his own ego.”
In addition to the released video, The Lincoln Project on its social media repeated a play-by-play of the events that unfolded Jan. 6.
While purportedly an organization of Republicans disgruntled with Trump’s authoritarian leadership, a statement made clear that even after Trump’s defeat, little interest remains among the political pros within the Lincoln Project to seek refuge in the modern GOP.
“In recent months, the Republican party has doubled down on the racism and authoritarianism we saw on display on January 6. The GOP has shown their willingness to lie and cheat to preserve power and have filed 361 bills in 47 states to attempt to suppress voter turnout and silence the voices of people of color,” the statement continues.
“Mitch McConnell has threatened corporations who have spoken out against voter suppression. The Republican party is not even attempting to disguise who they really are any longer. There is no place for this iteration of the Republican party in a democratic nation. Nationalism, authoritarianism, totalitarianism, and fascism are the enemies of patriotism and it is on all of us to rid our nation of those cancers. A nation governed by fear, intimidation, and hate cannot survive.”
