Poll: Time Makes Republicans More Loyal to Trump, Rioters

Republicans have only grown more supportive of Donald Trump and the Capitol rioters since the attack three years ago, new polling shows. Although their views vary more than Democrats' do, Republicans are less likely now to say Trump shares responsibility for the attack, that the rioters were mostly violent, or that President Biden's election was legitimate, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll. Overall, the narrative repeated by the former president is finding greater acceptance among members of his party, with some of those polled saying in interviews that they now believe the unfounded conspiracy theory pushed by Trump and right-wing media that law enforcement agencies were behind the Jan. 6 attack.

"From a historical perspective, these results would be chilling to many analysts," said Michael Hanmer of the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland. Among them is the finding that, driven by GOP beliefs, 62% of Americans overall believe Biden's victory was real. In December 2021, the same pollsters found that share at 69%. For people who receive information through Fox News, only about 30% believe Biden won fair and square. A majority of Americans polled—55%—said Jan. 6 was "an attack on democracy that should never be forgotten." Most Republicans, including Trump supporters, think otherwise. Independents largely agree with Democrats on the issue.

For many Republicans, Trump's refusal to follow the nation's democratic traditions is a feature. Biden would accept an election defeat because "he's a political person, and he does basically everything everybody tells him to do," Michael Bettger, 49, of Arkansas told the Washington Post. "He doesn't think outside the box." An independent who leans toward GOP candidates has become less bothered by the riot over time but still wishes Trump had tried to stop the attack. "But I don't know that it would have mattered," said Gloria Bowden, 68, of Florida, who has decided law enforcement officials caused it. Bettger said he no longer believes in elections. "We chose Donald Trump, but we didn't get him," he said. Full results can be found here. (More Capitol riot stories.)