WND Still Annoyed That Capitol Riot Is Called An Insurrection

WorldNetDaily has long tried to downplay the severity of the Capitol riot. The latest attempt came in a Dec. 16 article by Bob Unruh complaining that the riot is being called an “insurrection” and that Donald Trump might be held accountable for his actions in fomenting it:

Outside of fairly extreme rhetoric from Democrats, President Trump has never been accused of “insurrection,” much less convicted.

Nevertheless, Democrats are intent on characterizing his reaction to the anomalous 2020 election results and his concerns that the election was stolen – as well as his response to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, as the actions of an “insurrectionist.”

Which, they say, means he never can hold any public office again. Ever.

Breitbart reports 41 House Democrats filed a bill that would bar Trump, and they claim for their effort support from Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

[…]

Mainstream media and Democrats repeatedly have insisted that it was an insurrection, and that President Trump was its leader. But they have to argue that to support their claim he should be disqualified from holding office.

Unruh referred to an August article by Art Moore touting a Harvard studyclaiming to examine the reasons for the riot:

WND also reported on a Harvard study that said those protesters “motivated by loyalty to President Trump” actually “were not attempting to carry out an insurrection.”

Mainstream media and Democrats repeatedly have insisted that it was an insurrection, and that President Trump was its leader. But they have to argue that to support their claim he should be disqualified from holding office.

The Harvard study was based on court documents from 417 of the more than 800 defendants prosecuted for the riot, the Harvard Crimson said in a report spotlighted by Just the News.

“The folks with QAnon T-shirts, and signs, and flags were so prominently displayed in much of the visual imagery that came out of the Capitol attack,” said Kaylee Fagan, one of the authors of the study.

“So we expected to see more QAnon-related concepts come through in the documents.”

The study showed fewer than 8% said they wanted to start a civil war or armed insurrection.

That doesn’t excuse the riot, no matter how much Unruh thinks it does.

Unruh whined further that the House committee on the riot was holding Trump accountable for his actions in a Dec. 19 article, which additionally framed the committee as “partisan” and “activist”:

A partisan committee set up by soon-to-be-replaced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to review the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, and essentially find ways to blame President Trump, has released its report.

And to no one’s surprise it insists that the Department of Justice should review charges against President Donald Trump, including make a false statement, defrauding the U.S., conspiracy and inciting insurrection.

The Washington Examiner reported that at this point the recommendations are considered largely “meaningless” by legal experts, as the committee is expected to be dissolved as soon as the GOP becomes the majority in the House in just weeks.

Unruh didn’t dispute any of the committee’s findings despite his attack on it, preferring to quibble over words instead:

Democrats have been harping on the riot, describing it as an “insurrection” although it was more or less a riot, ever since it happened. That’s because a conviction for insurrection would prevent Trump from ever being in office again – one of the major goals of the entire Democrat party [sic].

At no point in either article does Unruh deny that Trump played a key role in fomenting the riot.