Letters

It is both sad and chilling that Fox News was the only network that refused to air the January 6 Committee hearings. They withheld these hearings so their viewers wouldn’t learn the truth about the “Big Lie”: The presidential election was not stolen, and the January 6 insurrection was not a peaceful protest but rather a violent attempted coup.

Here are some of the things that Fox viewers would have learned if they watched the hearings:

Immediately after the January 6 insurrection, many notable Republicans, including Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, not only blamed Donald Trump publicly for inciting the riot, they considered removing him from office for unfitness to serve. Only later did they reverse course when they selfishly feared political repercussions from their fanatical base.

Trump deliberately orchestrated the scheme to prevent the peaceful transfer of power even after he was told repeatedly by his own people that he had lost the election and there was no evidence of widespread fraud. The insurrection was Trump’s last-ditch effort at holding on to power after he failed to install fake slates of electors, persuade state officials to “find” him more votes, or convince the military to seize state election machines and impose martial law.

For 187 minutes — over three hours — after violent protesters broke into the Capitol, Trump did nothing but watch the rioting on Fox TV. But as Republican committee member Adam Kinzinger pointed out, doing nothing was a choice Trump made. He ignored the pleas of his aides, his chief of staff, his attorneys, his family, his friends at Fox, and even Republican congressmen at the Capitol. He refused to tell the rioters to stop the violence and go home.

His only actions were his now infamous tweet calling Mike Pence a coward, further endangering Pence’s life, and calls to Republican senators to further delay the vote. Trump chose not to call for help from any of the agencies available to him. It was Pence who took those steps while hiding from the armed rioters.

When Trump finally broke his silence, he did not condemn the rioters. He told them they were “special people” whom he “loved.” He had no words of solace for the terrified members of Congress or the traumatized and battered Capitol Police. Trump’s last words of the day to an aide before he retired to his residence were, “Mike Pence let me down.”

There will be more hearings in the fall. I urge you to tune in to learn the facts, not just a false narrative that has been spoon-fed to you by Trump, Fox News and cowardly, unpatriotic Republicans.

Truth is the power that sustains democracy.

Andrea Klausner

Vice Chair

Southampton Democratic Committee