As US President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats held a series of events on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Republicans maintained their silence.
With the House of Representatives out of session and no votes in the Senate, Republican leaders and much of the caucus managed to avoid the commemorations on Capitol Hill.
The relative silence marks an abrupt turnaround from the same day a year ago, when Republican leaders pleaded with former president Donald Trump to call off the violent mob that tried to overturn the presidential election results.
Their overwhelming reticence to speak out also highlights the former president’s continued hold over the party, as the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach him over his role in last year’s events find their political careers in jeopardy.
While he cancelled a competing speech that initially scheduled for January 6, Mr Trump nonetheless issued a statement repeating lies that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged".
He is still expected to repeat his unfounded claims of mass voter fraud during a rally in Arizona next week, previewing a potential campaign message for the 2024 elections.
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Donald Trump, the president at the time, speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as president in Washington on January 6, 2021. AP -
A mob loyal to Mr Trump tries to break through a police barrier at the Capitol. AP -
The mob waves pro-Trump flags in front of the Capitol building. AP -
Riot police push back a crowd of rioters at the Capitol building. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol building. AFP -
Insurrectionists loyal to Mr Trump try to open a door of the US Capitol building as they riot in Washington. AP -
US Capitol Police push back rioters trying to enter the US Capitol. AP -
Police and rioters confront each other in the Rotunda of the Capitol. US Capitol Police via AP -
Smoke fills the hallway outside the Senate chamber of the Capitol. AP -
Insurrectionists loyal to Mr Trump breach the Capitol in Washington. AP -
Trump supporters, including Doug Jensen, centre, confront US Capitol Police in the hallway outside the Senate chamber at the Capitol. AP -
Newly installed razor wire tops the fence surrounding the US Capitol following the January 6 riot. Reuters -
Security agents and members of Congress barricade the door to the House chamber as the violent mob breaches the Capitol. AP -
Rioter Jacob Chansley holds a sign referencing QAnon as supporters of Mr Trump gather to protest the early results of the 2020 presidential election. Reuters
Mr Trump also took aim at the House committee given the task of investigating the events of January 6, which has become a lightning rod of criticism within Mr Trump’s party.
Most Republicans have boycotted the committee, with the exception of Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom voted for Mr Trump’s impeachment.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was one of the few Republicans to issue a statement condemning last year’s failed insurrection, but he refrained from mentioning Mr Trump, instead accusing Democrats of politicising the attack.
“The United States Capitol, the seat of the first branch of our federal government, was stormed by criminals who brutalised police officers and used force to try to stop Congress from doing its job,” said Mr McConnell.
He went on to accuse Democrats of exploiting the anniversary “to advance partisan policy goals that long predated this event”, saying the opposing party sought “to damage the Senate in a different way from within” — a reference to calls from some within the party to reform the filibuster, thereby making it easier to pass Mr Biden’s legislative agenda without Republican support.
The messaging marked a departure from last year, when Mr McConnell said Mr Trump was “practically and morally responsible for provoking” the attack.
Mr McConnell travelled to Georgia with several colleagues from his caucus on the January 6 anniversary to attend the funeral of Johnny Isakson, a former Republican senator who died last month.
Unlike Mr McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy declined to even issue a statement — though he echoed similar accusations that Democrats were politicising the event to “divide the country” this week.
Still, Mr McCarthy said last year that Mr Trump “bears responsibility” for the attack and that he had desperately pleaded with the former president by phone to call off the attack.
Republican leaders have likely taken note of the fates of their colleagues who most vociferously condemned Mr Trump’s role in the failed insurrection — going so far as to side with Democrats in his second impeachment vote.
Mr Kinzinger and Anthony Gonzalez are both retiring at the end of the year following backlash among their constituents and members of their own party for siding against Mr Trump.
And Ms Cheney — who was one of the few Republicans to show up on Capitol Hill on the anniversary of the attack with her father, former vice president Dick Cheney — faces an uphill primary battle against a Trump-backed challenger during this year’s midterm election cycle.
Ironically, Ms Cheney’s challenger, Harriet Hageman, was a major critic of Mr Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.
It is unsurprising that Republican voters have come down hard on Mr Trump’s critics.
A Qunnipiac University poll from October found that 78 per cent of Republicans want the former president to run again in 2024, and 66 per cent of the party’s voters did not view January 6 as an attack on the US government.
Perhaps capitalising on this, two of Mr Trump’s close allies — Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor-Greene — did show up on Capitol Hill on the anniversary.
But instead of attending the memorial, they instead held a press conference during which they echoed conspiracy theories suggesting that the FBI may have instigated the January attack.
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An explosion caused by a police munition is seen while supporters of former president Donald Trump gather in front of the US Capitol Building in Washington, US, January 6, 2021. Reuters -
A supporter of US President Donald J. Trump sits on the desk of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, after supporters of US President Donald J. Trump breached the US Capitol security in Washington. EPA -
Police detain a person as supporters of US President Donald Trump protest outside the US Capitol. AFP -
Protesters enter the US Capitol Building. AFP -
A protester holds a Trump flag inside the US Capitol Building near the Senate Chamber. AFP -
US Capitol police officers point their guns at a door that was vandalized in the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP -
Members of congress run for cover as protesters try to enter the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP -
Congress staffers barricade themselves after Trump supporters stormed inside the US Capitol. AFP -
Congress staffers barricade themselves after Trump supporters stormed inside the US Capitol. AFP -
Congress staffers hold up their hands while Capitol Police Swat teams check everyone in the room as they secure the floor of Trump supporters. AFP -
US Capitol Police stand detain protesters outside of the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP -
A supporter of US President Donald Trump sits at a desk after invading the Capitol Building. AFP -
A protester sits in the Senate Chamber. AFP -
Pro-Trump protesters tear down a barricade as they clash with Capitol police during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 US presidential election results by the US Congress. Reuters -
Police hold back supporters of US President Donald Trump as they gather outside the US Capitol's Rotunda. AFP -
Supporters of US President Donald Trump enter the US Capitol's Rotunda. AFP -
A protester is seen hanging from the balcony in the Senate Chamber. AFP -
Riot police prepare to move demonstrators away from the US Capitol. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces, as they storm the US Capitol. AFP -
A supporter of US President Donald Trump wears a gas mask as he protests after storming the US Capitol. AFP -
Pro-Trump supporters storm the US Capitol following a rally. AFP -
Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest inside the US Capitol. AFP -
US President Donald Trump is seen on TV from a video message released on Twitter addressing rioters at the US Capitol, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC. AFP -
Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest in the US Capitol Rotunda. AFP -
Paramedics perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a patient. AFP -
A wounded protester is carried on barricade as demonstrators breach the US Capital building grounds. Bloomberg -
US Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi preside over a joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 Electoral College results after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol earlier in the day on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. EPA -
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., cleans up debris and personal belongings strewn across the floor of the Rotunda in the early morning hours of the morning, after protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington. AP
