Baseless allegations of election fraud amplified by President Donald Trump fueled the violent siege on the Capitol last January 6, intended to stop the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden’s victory. Fallout from conspiracy theories has included death threats and harassment directed toward election officials. CBS News chief Washington correspondent […] Read more »
A year after Jan. 6, violence still seen threatening U.S. democracy, and some say force can be justified
Even as so many Americans decry the events of January 6, the day has had lasting impacts on the nation’s psyche, the most immediate of which is that millions of Americans think more violence is coming, and that democracy itself might be threatened. The reality — and this won’t allay […] Read more »
Republicans and Democrats divided over Jan. 6 insurrection and Trump’s culpability
One year after the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, Republicans and Democrats are deeply divided over what happened that day and the degree to which former president Donald Trump bears responsibility for the assault, amid more universal signs of flagging pride in the workings of democracy at home, according […] Read more »
‘An American Tradition’: Lessons from a year covering conspiracy theories
… I have spent this year thinking and writing about the draw to conspiracy theories, the perverse comfort they provide and the damage they can cause. Today in the United States, we are living in an era of segregated belief, of divergent realities, at a time when social media has […] Read more »
‘Slow-motion insurrection’: How GOP seizes election power
In the weeks leading up to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, a handful of Americans — well-known politicians, obscure local bureaucrats — stood up to block then-President Donald Trump’s unprecedented attempt to overturn a free and fair vote of the American people. In the year […] Read more »
A new survey provides little comfort about democracy’s future
A new survey from Bright Line Watch, an organization that monitors democratic practices, provides some interesting insights but little solace about Republicans’ commitment to democracy. They might say they support democratic principles (e.g., “All adult citizens enjoy the same legal and political rights”), but they fail to embrace the most […] Read more »