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Politifact Lie of the Year: Lies about the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and its significance
https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/dec/15/2021-lie-year-lies-about-jan-6-capitol-attack-and-/
PolitiFact had many options to choose from for our Lie of the Year: claims that the 2020 election was stolen, claims that the COVID vaccine didn’t work, and this one, lies about the Capitol insurrection.
We picked these lies for two reasons. First, the attack was historically important; a federal judge called it "the most significant assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812." While some members of Congress lodged protests when the Electoral College count was close, as in 2000, or when individual states had close margins, like Ohio in 2004, never before had Americans overtaken the Capitol to hold up electoral proceedings and threaten lawmakers. In fact, "the peaceful transfer of power" has long been a hallmark phrase in describing, with pride, the American experience.
Second, the events of Jan. 6 were widely broadcast on that day and many days afterward, allowing the public to see for itself exactly what happened. The body of evidence includes direct video documentation and many eyewitness accounts. So efforts to downplay and deny what happened are an attempt to brazenly recast reality itself.
"It’s meant to sow doubt and make us unable to react in the ways we need to react to what is actually a threat to democracy," said Kate Starbird, an associate professor and expert in misinformation at the University of Washington.
We picked these lies for two reasons. First, the attack was historically important; a federal judge called it "the most significant assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812." While some members of Congress lodged protests when the Electoral College count was close, as in 2000, or when individual states had close margins, like Ohio in 2004, never before had Americans overtaken the Capitol to hold up electoral proceedings and threaten lawmakers. In fact, "the peaceful transfer of power" has long been a hallmark phrase in describing, with pride, the American experience.
Second, the events of Jan. 6 were widely broadcast on that day and many days afterward, allowing the public to see for itself exactly what happened. The body of evidence includes direct video documentation and many eyewitness accounts. So efforts to downplay and deny what happened are an attempt to brazenly recast reality itself.
"It’s meant to sow doubt and make us unable to react in the ways we need to react to what is actually a threat to democracy," said Kate Starbird, an associate professor and expert in misinformation at the University of Washington.