William Saletan, writing for the Bulwark provides an annotated timeline of Donald Trump’s Infamous 187 Minutes. I have written about this before and will note again that Trump, who was President of the United States at the time. He was, therefore, the highest elected official and the pinnacle of the federal law enforcement structure. And he did nothing about lawlessness a few blocks from his locale. So, at the barest of minimums, his lack of action was a violation of his oath to make sure that the laws are faithfully executed. No discussion of motives is necessary to point out this basic fact and even the most ardent defenders have to do some serious mental gymnastics (if not resort to outright lies) to defend the inaction.
I would argue that his inaction alone should disqualify him for the presidency, as he demonstrated dereliction of duty.
But, of course, as Saletan notes, there is plenty of evidence of not just mere inaction and ignoring duty, but instead of active support for the actions of the mob that day.
As Saletan concludes:
In sum, the report demonstrates that Trump condoned violence, encouraged it, and sought to exploit it. He repeatedly sided with the mob against the people—not to mention the democratic process—it was attacking. It took him more than an hour to agree, grudgingly, to call for peace. It then took him another hour and a half to agree, again grudgingly, to ask the mob to go home.
May I also note, that when he did tell the mob to go home he expressed understanding concerning their behavior and expressed “love” for them. He clearly condoned what they did.
At any rate, I bring all of this up because Saletan does a good job of providing a thorough timeline and also because I think his behavior in those 187 minutes is the best place to try and persuade the persuadable on the topic of Trump’s culpability and guilt (granted, it may well be that those who can be persuaded already have been).
I would also say that the timeline is an indictment of McCarthy’s craven power-grab and damns any Republican who refuses to shake off fealty to Trump (now and in the future).
More on Trump’s rhetoric and lack of action in another post of mine from January of 2021: Trump Deserves to be Impeached, Plain and Simple.
