The Atlantic

Coup Nation

Americans across the country participated in an effort to subvert democracy.
Source: Illustration by Paul Spella / The Atlantic*

As some would have it, former President Donald Trump’s attempt to steal the 2020 election was really no big deal.

“January 6 barely rates as a footnote, really. Not a lot happened that day,” Tucker Carlson . “If you think about it, the presidential election was not overturned, the Capitol was not destroyed. The government wasn’t toppled.” Former Vice President Mike Pence that it was just “one day in January,” and accused the press of using that “one day to try and demean the character and intentions of 74 million Americans who believe we could be strong again and prosperous again and supported our administration in 2016 and 2020.” John Eastman, the author of a memo that laid out a, “Anybody who thinks that that’s a viable strategy is crazy.”

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