I’m glad that I watched Thursday nights J6 committee a 2nd time today. After it happened live, I wrote that the devil was in the details, and that the timing was everything. But what I caught today snapped it all into final focus.
I’ll make this as chronological as possible, so that it makes the most sense. Let’s start with Trump’s Ellipse speech. Trump specifically mentioned Pence at last a half a dozen times. But listen to his words. His speech references about Pence were either neutral or complimentary. Things like I’m sure our great Vice President Mike Pence will do the right thing, and if he does the right thing, you’all be very happy people. Or Hopefully Mike Pence does the right thing, but if he doesn’t, I might not like him so much anymore.Â
Trump didn’t sic the mob on Pence in that moment because he had other fish to fry. In the speech he also highlighted the GOP Senators and Representatives, saying things like We’re going to go down to the Capitol, to cheer on our faithful congressional allies, and maybe some of the shaky ones will see the light. At this point, Trump’s plan was for the Capitol riot was for it to be a pressure point to force compliance from Pence and his caucus.
How do we know that? Because of his actions as laid out by the J6 committee. Trump didn’t even have his overcoat off when he got back to the Oval Office when his valte told him that rioters were trying to breach the police lines to get into the Capitol. And Trump’s silent response was to hand over his overcoat, and cloister himself in the private dining room.
What did he do there, with FUX News proudly displaying his handiwork? He made phone calls. But not to DHS, the Secret Service, the Pentagon for the National Guard, or the FBI. Instead he called GOP Senators to steel them to the task of torpedoing or delaying the vote certification. The implication was crystal clear, See what happens when people piss me off?
Now here’s where it gets sticky, so follow along. Up until now Trump’s riot was an elaborate pressure campaign on Pence and the GOP caucus. Trump was watching the progress of his coup attempt live on FUX News. But he wasn’t alone.
The J6 committee showed that National Security staff was in the White House Situation room, and they were monitoring in real time the Secret Service radio communications. And they would have had an open line to Trump in the dining room, to keep him informed and up to date. And That’s the keystone!
By 2:15, Trump had to know that Representatives and Senators were being evacuated to secure locations. More importantly, Trump had to know two other things. First, Pence had been evacuated from his office to a secure location, and second and even more importantly, Pence was refusing to leave the Capitol building.
Which, in Trump’s mind, made Vice President Mike Pence the prime objective. Forget the legislators, they were gone in the wind. But if the mob could Get their hands on Pence, then it was endgame. After all, the vote to certify the electoral college results couldn’t take place, no matter how secure the building was, without Mike Pence overseeing the process! stop Pence, and you stop the certification.
That was the genesis for the 2:24 tweet in which Trump said that said that Mike Pence had been a chickenshit that had sold them all out. Trump’s Capitol riot pressure campaign had instead become an at all costs Search and destroy mission. Find and stop Mike Pence at all costs!
And Trump did his best to give them every opportunity. He stayed shuttered and alone in the dining room for another hour and forty minutes, until news coverage finally showed him that his coup attempt had failed. Reinforcements were on the way. Only at 4:07 did Trump release a video telling his Neanderthal mob to skedaddle before they all got pinched. It was finally over.
I have told you since day 1 that the devil is in the details. And now you see why. When we have all of the events in chronological order, with corroboration and context, the reason for Trump’s 2:24 tweet become crystal clear. The mob getting its hands on Mike Pence was Trump’s last Hail-Mary pass. Yes, we came that close.
Yet, Pence still won’t denounce TFG. Talk about being a “cuck”.
In a case of being generous to Pence, we could be looking at a form of Stockholm Syndrome.
In a case of being more cynical of Pence, I’m thinking he’s in a (thankfully non-sexual–one sincerely hopes, at least) sub/dom relationship with Trump. (It’s rare not entirely uncommon for the dom in one relationship to seek out another sub/dom relationship where he’s the sub. Trump was the sub with Putin so he forced Pence to be his sub. The idea is similar to corporate executives or other “powerful” businessmen who seek out dominatrices as a form of “relaxation” and “easing their daily stress.”)
Very perceptive analysis. But you seem to suggest that Trump was taken by surprise by the evacuation of the legislators. Wouldn’t that imply that he wasn’t expecting a violent riot? Of course he’s a very quick improviser. But if that was not what he expected, this suggests event were being pushed by other forces — organized rioters like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. So who was behind them?
My friend, Trump doesn’t think that far ahead…His plan was that a screaming mob would cow Pence into compliance, and then he could call them off…Trump’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t think STRATEGICALLY, he thinks along the simplest, most LINEAR line…A howling mob equals GOP compliance…End of story…
I wasn’t suggesting that Trump that far ahead. My point wasn’t even about what Trump was thinking, it was about what the leaders of the mob were thinking and had been intending to do all along, which Trump — according to your scenario — didn’t expect. Sure he adapted immediately. But if Trump didn’t expect that, somebody else did, because we know the militia groups trained for it in advance. Who exactly was running the show? Sure, Trump had a plan, but it was co-opted by somebody else’s plan. But I think it’s much more likely that Trump knew all along what the mob was going to do.
I think that Trump was holding out hope that some or most of his core MAGA Sens & Reps would turn on their liberal colleagues and deliver more than a few to the rioters. They’d all been kissing his ring for so long that Trump truly believed they were his brown shirts, not having a clue that all the GQP morons are terrified of Trump’s MAGA base – and still are.
So.not.strategic
. I agree with your analysis but imagine other narratives conceivably exist. Lowlife thug
.
I take your point about the 2:24 tweet – it’s even more important than I realized during the hearing. Which btw made it clear that Trump chose to egg on his riotous mob.
Where I disagree slightly is your comments about Trump being neutral or complimentary of Pence during his “wind em up” speech earlier. I believe he knew Pence wasn’t going to play ball, but he also knew better than to outright attack him during that speech – but he sure as hell set him up – for that infamous tweet. Basically, he got his mob worked up and teased them with a string of “let’s hope for the best with Pence” but to me at least all those references contained an undertone of “If he fucks me then fuck him – all bets are off and he’s fair game just like Pelosi, Schumer and others.” Plenty in that mob understood what he was hinting at.
That makes that 2:24 tweet all the more alarming. Because to me at least it means Trump thought there was a strong possibility he’d wind up sending his mob on a “get Pence and make him pay” mission, and he raised their hopes just a bit so that if he decided to have them go after Pence the sense of “betrayal” in the mob would be that much stronger! That’s exactly what proved to be the case IMHO.
I think the other aspect that ties into this is the fucking Secret Service – and having people who weren’t Pence’s trusted team mixed in with things at the Capitol. AND as we know (but has gotten precious little attention from the Committee) Capitol Polce Officers who were in on the whole damned thing. It would have been easy enough to “accidentally on purpose” compromise that attempt to whisk Pence away from the Capitol, with Trump loyalist agents going out to “confront” attackers and leaving Pence and his agents actually trying to protect them vulnerable. Yes, I think Trump would have been fine with a suggestion by one of his thug advisors to NOT actually evacuate Pence or even simply whisk him to Andrews and drag him on to a plane out of town. But instead to allow the mob to overwhelm the agents truly trying to protect Pence and let the mob get their hands on him. We know what would have gone down had that happened.
Don’t forget there was in the leadup discussion of justifications to invoke Martial Law and a beaten to death (or hanged) VP and his family would have been the excuse Trump needed. It’s not like he gave a shit about Pence or “Mother” or their kids. “Better them than me” is exactly the kind of thinking that would have been in Trump’s diseased mind.
So, I’m saying Trump was pretty sure Pence wasn’t going to do what he wanted, and used moments in his speech to set up the crowd to, once they became a rioting mob feel betrayed when they learned Pence was carrying on with the certification. And Trump had every intention ahead of that speech to make some kind of tweet that would convey the “I hoped Pence would step up but he fucked us all” message that would further enrage an angry mob.
If I was prosecuting that sumbitch Trump I’d work on an entire line of questioning for trial to establish that part of pre-meditation. If done well (better than I’m sure I’d be capable of) and reinforced in opening and closing arguments I think a jury would see the pre-meditation, the “intent” as the legal talking heads go on about pretty clearly.
I agree wholeheartedly Denis, but to me it’s simpler than that…Trump couldn’t afford to put a target on Pences back before the crowd even left…Plus, I still believe that Traitor Tot honestly thought that if he sufficiently scared the shit out of Pence, especially with his family in the chamber, he could coerce him into compliance…Hell, at that point he had nothing to lose…
Great article, but you guys need to do some proof-reading. With so many easily fixed mistakes, makes it hard to take the content seriously.
Murph has serious vision problems. We cut him slack. (And you already know how wonderful autocorrupt is, I hope!)
People like myself, at 77, are finding numerous examples of reduced reaction times, vision problems, not to mention failing joints and muscle weakness … my typing has never been stellar, 2-3-4 fingers at a time, automatically speak loudly for careful review, and sometimes, deleting entire blocks of text rather than fighting through the typos and confusing structure …
I’m impressed with Murf’s clarity and points taken with simplicity and the wise experience he has …