The hosts of “Morning Joe” were a bit baffled on Wednesday, after a new poll revealed that fewer Republicans today believe Donald Trump bears any responsibility for January 6, as compared to 2021.
Discussing the results of the Washington Post poll, host Willie Geist noted that, while it’s confusing, it’s not exactly surprising, as it “kind of tells us what we know to be true.” He added that Trump’s “rewriting of the history” of the insurrection has simply “become truth” among his supporters.
Conservative commentator Charlie Sykes agreed that the results aren’t shocking, but noted that they do indicate something important.
“It’s an old story, that Republicans are loyal to Donald Trump, that this is Donald Trump’s party. But what is really striking is, that poll shows his ability to rewrite history, as you mentioned,” Sykes said.
“I mean, this is a post-reality that we live in here, because we saw January 6 with our own eyes!” he continued. “We watched it. It’s on videotape.”
Sykes then reminded viewers that, in the immediate aftermath of January 6, even staunch Trump supporters like Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell placed blame on the legally troubled former president.
“We live in a world in which tens of millions of people will deny the evidence of their own eyes, will deny the testimony of people who were there, and in fact will ignore leaders of their own party,” Sykes marveled.
“So this is part of the new reality, the post-reality reality that we live in, and Donald Trump has proven rather remarkably successful in being able to push this revisionist story, so 2024 will be about whether or not people can push back.”
You can watch the full discussion from “Morning Joe” in the video above.