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We’ve arrived at the five year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riot that led to multiple dead, hundreds injured, and left our democracy on life support. Democrats honored the day with an unofficial hearing and strongly worded condemnations, while Republicans did… nothing.
The White House marked the occasion with the unveiling of a commemorative webpage [ [link removed] ] with a bold new take on the events of January 6, 2021.
It would have been easier to just abstain from scrubbing [ [link removed] ] the evidence off government websites. They’ve pitched an alternative history that takes some big swings. While I appreciate the effort, I have some notes.
TONE
I see you’re going for “Orwellian” here, but it’s a little on the nose. The language is over-the-top, full of gross exaggerations, manipulated facts, and outright lies about who perpetrated the violence and who the victims were on that day. And it’s oddly condescending. Your audience is smarter than you’re giving them credit for: they watched the riot unfold in real time while they listened to Trump egg on his supporters. Orwell wrote cautionary tales, not instruction manuals.
CHARACTERS
The main character is underdeveloped. You have Trump coming out as the aggrieved protagonist at the top. But then we lose him for the rest of the story. We need to track his motivation - and there’s plenty to work with! Your main character spent months lying about a stolen election and encouraging his supporters to fight on his behalf. “Unlikeable male lead” isn’t a dealbreaker. A dishonest one rewriting history to soothe his ego is.
STAKES
All wrong. This draft reads like the only thing that matters is Trump’s reputation as a “hero” and a “winner.” But what’s really at stake is objective truth and a shared reality. Hundreds of guilty pleas, prison sentences, injured Capitol police officers and lawmakers, and real, lasting trauma are either glossed over or left out completely.
This can’t just be about one small man’s quest for vengeance. Democracy is at stake.
THE BIG PICTURE
This draft doesn’t just soften the edges on history, it amounts to a dangerous lie that normalizes political violence. By portraying rioters as heroes, the legal system that held them to account as Kangaroo court, and the lawmakers just doing their jobs as criminals, you make an illegal and violent insurrection look like a righteous crusade.
One final note, because this contrast matters. While this page was going live, Trump was once again repeating the lies that led to the attack.
And Pamela Hemphill, who stormed the Capitol and pleaded guilty, offered a clearer version of events than this rewrite does.
“I had fallen for the president’s lies… Jan. 6 was an insurrection. I broke the law.”
When even your own rioter understands the stakes better than the official record, it’s time to rethink the draft.
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