CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten revealed Monday that American voters’ focus on the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot significantly waned during the 2024 presidential election cycle.
The shift in public opinion played a key role in shaping the outcome of the election, Enten said.
According to Enten, the percentage of Americans believing President-elect Donald Trump should be ineligible to return to office due to his alleged role in the Capitol riot dropped from 56% in January 2021 to 47% by December 2023.
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Similarly, the share of Americans who thought Trump bore responsibility for the events of January 6 fell from 48% to 37% over the same period.
“If you go back four years ago, Trump’s role on January 6, 2021, should make him ineligible to be president, the clear majority of voters said yes, 56%,” Enten explained.
“But of course, Donald Trump won the presidency, and part of the reason why was because views on Trump completely shifted, including Trump’s role on January 6 … by 2023 [and] 2024, it was just 47%. So we saw this drop of about 9 points, and that of course makes all the difference in the world.”
Enten also noted that as time passed, the Capitol riot faded as a primary concern for voters.
By the 2024 election, only 5% of Americans and 2% of Republicans cited the riot as their main memory of Trump’s first term.
“People, simply put, didn’t care as much about the attack on the Capitol,” Enten said. “By the time of 2024, it was just 5% [of Americans]. And among Republicans, it was just 2%. So the bottom line is, fewer Americans faulted Donald Trump, thought he was greatly responsible for the January 6 attack, and far fewer folks thought that it was their number one memory.”
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CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten revealed Monday that American voters’ focus on the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot significantly waned during the 2024 presidential election cycle.
The shift in public… pic.twitter.com/dqsIOeVWsl
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Despite the public’s declining focus on the Capitol riot, the Biden administration and liberal media continued to frame the event as a central issue.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre labeled Trump a “fascist” and an existential threat to democracy during an October 23 briefing, citing his alleged role in the riot.
The Biden campaign released an ad in June describing Trump as an “instigator of an insurrection” who “pledged to pardon the extremists who tried to overthrow our government.”
However, a poll by The Hill revealed that undecided swing-state voters trusted Trump over Biden to better handle threats to American democracy.
As Congress prepares to certify the 2024 electoral votes on Monday afternoon, public confidence in the voting process has also shifted.
Enten reported that 94% of Republican voters believe the 2024 election votes were counted accurately, marking a dramatic increase from the 31% who expressed the same confidence following the 2020 election.
The results highlight a significant evolution in voter priorities and attitudes toward Trump, the January 6 riot, and election integrity.
As Trump prepares to reenter office, the data underscores the complexities of public opinion and its influence on modern elections.
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