White House torches Democrats’ Jan 6 ‘gaslighting’ claims in anniversary takedown
EXCLUSIVE: The White House published a new website Tuesday detailing the timeline of the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, taking aim at Democrat lawmakers for allegedly promoting a "gaslighting narrative" surrounding the protest to silence their political opponents.
"The Democrats masterfully reversed reality after January 6, branding peaceful patriotic protesters as ‘insurrectionists’ and framing the event as a violent coup attempt orchestrated by Trump—despite no evidence of armed rebellion or intent to overthrow the government," the new website states.
"In truth, it was the Democrats who staged the real insurrection," the website continued, pointing to the certification of the 2020 election that the White House described as "fraud-ridden" and for allegedly "weaponizing federal agencies to hunt down dissenters."
"All while (then-Speaker of the House Nancy) Pelosi’s own security lapses invited the chaos they later exploited to seize and consolidate power," the website continues. "This gaslighting narrative allowed them to persecute innocent Americans, silence opposition, and distract from their own role in undermining democracy."
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Tuesday marks the fifth anniversary of the protest that has haunted U.S. politics throughout the Biden administration and through the 2024 campaign cycle, as Democrats slammed Trump for allegedly promoting a riot. The new website works to shed accurate light on the events of the protest following years of Democrats describing it as a dark moment in U.S. history.
The new site boasts the historic date with black and white images of Democrats and others who investigated the breach, a timeline of Trump supporters gathering in Washington, D.C., ahead of and after the breach, and how the House Administration Subcommittee’s Interim Report reviewing the breach uncovered "critical security failures on January 6, 2021, that were largely due to politicized decisions by Democratic leadership and the Pentagon."
The Jan. 6th Select Committee was charged with the initial investigation into the breach and ultimately referred Trump for prosecution in 2022. The committee became a lightning rod of criticism for Trump and Republicans, who accused the congressional body of "deleting and destroying" evidence related to the investigation, which was detailed in the House Administration Subcommittee’s Interim Report published in December 2024.
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The website's timeline of Jan. 6, 2021, kicks off with Trump's "call to action" for Americans to travel to Washington, D.C., "for a peaceful and historic demonstration."
The timeline walks users through the events of the day, including excerpts focused on: "President Trump Delivers Powerful Speech," "Patriots March to the Capitol," "Capitol Police Response Escalates Tensions," "President Trump Urges Calm," and "Leaked Pelosi Video Exposes Security Lapses."
Supporters of Trump gathered outside the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress was set to certify the Electoral College vote that determined President Joe Biden was elected to the nation's highest office.
Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi was a key figure in the protest's subsequent investigations, as she served as speaker of the House at the time. Footage from inside the Capitol during the protest showed that she admitted to taking "responsibility" for the breach.
"Leaked footage captured by Nancy Pelosi’s daughter shows the Speaker during the chaos admitting, 'I take responsibility,' for security failures," the White House website states. "The video exposes Pelosi’s catastrophic failure to prepare, including rejecting President Trump’s reported advance offers of 10,000 troops to maintain security. Pelosi’s daughter’s own footage shows she knew security was so limited under her watch, exposing the deliberate refusal to accept offered reinforcements that could have prevented or delayed required reinforcements."
Pelosi's office has slammed the promotion of the video as cherry-picked statements that don't contradict that Pelosi was not responsible for handling security at the Capitol, as tactical decisions ahead of the protest fell under the Capitol Police's and the Capitol Police Board's purview.
When asked about the new site and remarks focused on Pelosi, the House Speaker emerita's spokesman, Ian Krager, slammed the use of "cherry-picked, out-of-context clips" to allegedly downplay "the deadly insurrection," which included the fatal shooting of Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt while in the Capitol.
"Numerous independent fact-checkers have confirmed again and again that Speaker Pelosi did not plan her own assassination on January 6th," Krager said. "Cherry-picked, out-of-context clips do not change the fact that the Speaker of the House is not in charge of the security of the Capitol Complex — on January 6th or any other day of the week. The ongoing attempts to whitewash the deadly insurrection are shameful, unpatriotic, and pathetic."
Pelosi published a statement Tuesday on the anniversary of the breach, calling it an "attempted coup" via "a violent insurrection incited by the President of the United States."
"We must speak plainly: January 6th was an attempted coup. It was an effort to nullify millions of lawful votes and subvert the will of the American people," Pelosi wrote in the statement published Tuesday. "But the attack failed because of the courage of public servants who gave proof through the night that our flag was still there by refusing to bend to pressure, threats, or intimidation. On that day, the Constitution held and we kept the Republic."
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Jan. 6, 2021, thrust Trump into a legal and political storm that followed him out of office, fueling his second impeachment and years of courtroom battles. Democrats cited his words and actions surrounding the Capitol riot as grounds for "incitement of insurrection," while prosecutors later built separate cases probing election interference and efforts to overturn the 2020 results.
Democrats stated that Jan. 6 was one of the darkest days in U.S. history, repeatedly pointing to it throughout the Biden administration and 2024 campaign cycle as the Biden–Harris ticket, followed by the Harris–Walz ticket, worked to preserve the party's control of the executive branch.
Biden called Jan. 6 a "dark moment" and "an assault on the citadel of liberty" back in 2021, while former Vice President Kamala Harris said during the 2024 presidential debate that it was "the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War."
Trump has hit back at Democratic rhetoric, defending that he told supporters to march "peacefully and patriotically" outside the Capitol, while also describing the day as "a day of love" and casting many defendants as unfairly targeted. The president granted clemency to all individuals convicted or awaiting trial over the breach, roughly 1,600 people, upon his return to the Oval Office in January 2025.
The new White House website page argues in one section that "President Trump Corrected a Historic Wrong—freeing Americans Who Were Unjustly Punished and Restoring Fairness Under the Law."
"With his triumphant return to the White House, President Trump wasted no time righting one of the darkest wrongs in modern American history," the site states. "On Inauguration Day 2025, he issued sweeping pardons and commutations for the vast majority of January 6 defendants—patriotic citizens who had been viciously overcharged, denied due process, and held as political hostages by a vengeful regime."
The major legal cases targeting Trump that were tied to claims he worked to overturn the 2020 election were later dropped after Trump returned to office, while a Georgia election-interference prosecution against Trump and others was also dismissed.
The BBC is currently wrapped up in a $10 billion defamation lawsuit leveled by Trump in a Florida federal court over a documentary the outlet published ahead of the 2024 election that included an edited clip of Trump's 2021 speech on Jan. 6. The outlet has apologized for an "error of judgment" regarding editing the speech, but has rejected demands for financial compensation. The edited video is also included on the White House's latest website.