The GOP Finds the Riot’s Real Villain: Nancy Pelosi

You might be surprised to learn this, but the Capitol riot was actually all Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s fault. Yes, you might think this is completely insane, and that’s because it is. But despite its complete insanity, some Republican elected officials have decided that the real guilty party isn’t the ex-president who shopped the Big Lie, tweeted about violence, and gave an incendiary speech that morning at the “Stop the Steal” rally.

Lindsey Graham, perhaps inevitably, was one of the first to float the idea that perhaps this might be actually the Democratic speaker’s fault, asking on Twitter “whether Speaker Pelosi, due to optics, refused requests by the Capitol Hill Police for additional resources like the National Guard?” It’s like blaming Hillary for Bill’s affairs—not the first time a woman has been blamed for something a man did, and likely not the last.

On Jan. 6, Trump supporters invaded the Capitol in the hopes of stopping the certification of the 2020 election. It didn’t work, the election was certified, but it marked the first time that a peaceful transfer of power was disrupted in our history. Rioters in various cosplay outfits, carrying everything from bats to bear spray to actual guns, stormed the Capitol chanting “hang Mike Pence.” Five people died during the insurrection, and the following weekend two police officers killed themselves.