The Trump enablers now condemning violence want you to forget the last 4 years

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( January 8, 2021 As we approach the end of a historic week in the United States, lawmakers are scrambling to figure out how to rein in an erratic president who has just 12 days left in office. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi [said in a letter]( to members of the House on Friday that she would move forward with impeachment, which could prevent Trump from holding office again in the future, if Trump did not resign immediately. Mike Pence has given no indication thus far that he plans to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Even though some Republicans have suggested that they would be willing to go along with impeachment, it's unclear how likely the effort would be to result in Trump's removal, especially given the two-thirds majority the Senate would need for a conviction. Pelosi has one other plan for safeguarding the country these next two weeks: keeping Trump away from the nuclear codes. The speaker [said in her letter]( that she had spoken to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley about preventing Trump from "initiating hostilities" or "ordering a nuclear strike." "The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy," she wrote. The Nuclear Command Authority is shrouded in mystery, and it's unclear to me exactly how easy it would be for Trump to launch a nuke, but I've read the Wikipedia page on [mutually assured destruction]( enough times to conclude that at least things would probably be over pretty quickly. Well, I hope you find a way to relax this weekend. I'm planning on taking a nice, long walk in the woods. —Abigail Weinberg P.S. In yesterday's newsletter, I said that "House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell" called for Trump's removal. I meant to say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. McConnell, the Senate majority leader, is a Republican and has not called for Trump's removal. I'm sorry for the error—it's been a wacky week. Advertisement [House Donation Ad]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Trump Enablers Now Condemning the Violence Want You to Forget the Past 4 Years]( But newfound gestures at morality and self-pity aren't enough. BY INAE OH [Trending] [How would the police have reacted if Black people stormed the Capitol?]( BY NATHALIE BAPTISTE [How police unions responded to the assault on the Capitol]( BY SAMANTHA MICHAELS [Biden wants to fight domestic terrorism. Here's how he can do it.]( BY MATT COHEN [Capitol rioters planned for weeks in plain sight. The police weren’t ready.]( BY LOGAN JAFFE, LYDIA DEPILLIS, ISAAC ARNSDORF, AND J. DAVID MCSWANE Advertisement [House Subscription Ad]( [Weekend Reads] [Special Feature]( [Donald Trump Is Now a Terrorist Leader]( The attack on the Capitol is the culmination of Trumpism, and the GOP owns this. BY DAVID CORN [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Recharge] SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE [From Our Archives, Prescient Reporting on Trump, White Supremacy, and Hate Groups]( Each Friday, we pull articles from our archives to propel you into the weekend. On January 6, a white mob attacked the Capitol fueled by the words of President Donald Trump. It was unprecedented in many ways, but also deeply resonant with much of American history, and predictable. White violence against even the sniff of a more equitable system is not new. Nor is the championing of violence by purported half-jokes like Trump’s. We’ve written about this at length. I wanted to unearth a few of those articles, which may help put into context why this week, while harrowing, does not seem out of place. It’s not good news itself, but the reporting is worth reading. From the start, there have been warnings about Trump and his lackeys fanning the flames of white supremacy to—in that falsely neutral phrase—“play to the base.” In 2016, we [reported]( on the deep connection between Trump and hate groups, and his ability to turn them increasingly mainstream. We know that Trump only furthered what has long been a deep root of Republican power: [racism](. We know Jeff Sessions is a [bigot](, and he was fundamental to the Trump administration. As was [Steve Bannon](. We [wrote]( about how Trump was inciting violence over the election, and then it happened. We’ve written about how this isn’t Trump uniquely but instead the outgrowth of a [racist Republican Party](. There is also a broader view. We’ve written about how the current vigilante and racist groups tie back to the same grievances that led to the birth of the [KKK during Reconstruction](. Just the day before the attack, we published an essay [arguing]( that many white opinion-makers and historians have been slow to understand the danger of Trump’s racism (and the racism of liberal institutions and their versions of history) in favor of a more pacifying “this is not us” narrative. We’ve [written]( about white backlash and Reconstruction and how it should not be assumed that revolutions always progress forward toward a better world. And we’ve written specifically, and powerfully, about the threat of [QAnon](, [militias](, and [white supremacists](. —Jacob Rosenberg Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? 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