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Trump Again Calls Jan. 6 Defendants ‘Hostages’ on Anniversary Day
Donald Trump marked the third anniversary of the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2024, by again calling people jailed over the riot “hostages” during campaign events in Iowa.
Edition · January 7, 2024
January 7, 2024: Trump’s Jan. 6 Minimization Problem
A backfill edition on the day after the third anniversary of the Capitol attack, when Trump doubled down on calling rioters ‘hostages’ and kept reminding voters that he has not learned a single useful thing from history.
On January 7, 2024, the Trump world story was less about a new policy move than a durable political liability: the former president spent the Jan. 6 anniversary treating the attack like a grievance rerun instead of a national trauma. That choice mattered because the campaign was trying to sell normalcy and inevitability while Trump was once again praising people convicted for the violence that targeted the Capitol and the transfer of power. The day also reinforced the basic strategic problem for Trump’s allies: every time he reaches for Jan. 6, he drags the race back to the same wound, the same evidence, and the same ugly facts.
Closing take
The strongest Trump screwup on January 7, 2024, was not a gaffe. It was the decision to keep litigating Jan. 6 in public as if the country had forgotten what happened. That may thrill the base, but it hands his opponents a ready-made contrast between democratic legitimacy and chaos cosplay.
Ranked by how bad the fuckup was
5 stars means maximum fallout. 1 star means a smaller self-own.