January 6th is a date we’ll never forget – not due to its significance, but due to how often that date is repeated. Marking the one-year anniversary of January 6th, 2021, Vice President Kamala Harris said “…Dates that occupy not only a place on our calendar but a place in our collective memory. Dec. 7, 1941, Sept. 11, 2001, and Jan. 6, 2021.” One of these dates simply is not like the other. One helped to launch the United States into World War 2, the other claimed thousands of innocent lives, and then there’s January 6th, which is a day of news coverage, and then constant reminders of the date from people who supported rioters just a few months prior.
CBS conducted a poll, which parts were later covered up by the network due to not receiving the desired outcome. In this poll, people were asked many questions. Many questions on the poll were divided, the main divisive talking points include: believing that it was an attempt to overthrow democracy, as well as, believing it was an “insurrection”. The over 2,046 people polled did find some common ground:
For starters, “a protest that went too far” was the overwhelming favorite of the 2,046 Americans who were polled with 76% agreeing with that characterization of Jan. 6. The second most popular result was “trying to overturn the election and keep Donald Trump in power” with 63%. Both of those options were omitted in the graphic bolstered by CBS. Meanwhile, “an insurrection,” which came at a distant third with 55% of Americans was kept in the graphic among the others which polled even less popular.
As first reported by Fox News, CBS downplayed the findings of its own poll asking Americans how they would characterize the events in the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The survey asked 2,046 adults, “What happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021?” Eighty percent of Republicans and 69% of Democrats described it as “a protest that went too far.” Even 70% of Biden voters characterized it that way.
But this was not the information CBS chose to highlight. Instead, after quickly noting, “People widely call it a protest that went too far,” its reporting turned its focus on more granular responses to the poll, conducted with YouGov.
Americans don’t seem to care about January 6th as much as the White House does. While Democrat politicians are calling anyone who was in attendance on January 6th a domestic terrorist, most Americans view them as being at a protest that got out of hand. Attendees of the George Floyd riots throughout 2020 were often given the benefit of the doubt, with CNN even having the headline “Firey but mostly peaceful” while the entire background is engulfed in flames.
