A Majority of Voters Believe the Jan. 6 Attack Was an Attempt to Hold Power and Overturn the Will of the People
By Bella Kumar and Abby Springs
On Jan. 6, 2021, hundreds of supporters of then-President Trump broke into the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In response, the House of Representatives created a special committee to extensively investigate the violent events of Jan. 6 and Trump’s actions leading up to the attack. Chaired by Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and vice-chaired by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the committee has held a series of televised hearings to inform the public of its findings.
New polling from Data for Progress finds that a slim majority of voters (51 percent) believe Trump Republicans’ efforts to contest the 2020 election, including the Jan. 6 attack, were an attempt to claim and hold power and overturn the will of the people. Thirty-seven percent of voters believe the fraudulent election claims that were touted by Trump and Trump Republicans.
Voters also agree that Republicans running for office who say the 2020 election was stolen cannot be trusted to uphold the will of the people by a +9-point margin. This includes Democrats by a +69-point margin and Independents by a +15-point margin.
About two-thirds of voters believe the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the events leading up to it are important. Forty-five percent of voters believe the attack was “very important,” including 73 percent of Democrats, 44 percent of Independents, and 19 percent of Republicans. Twenty-one percent of voters believe it was “somewhat important”, including 17 percent of Democrats, 21 percent of Independents, and 23 percent of Republicans.
We also find that 75 percent of voters have heard about the investigation by the House of Representatives into the events leading up to and including the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Roughly one-third of voters, including 43 percent of Democrats, 31 percent of Independents, and 30 percent of Republicans, have heard “a lot” about the investigation. Forty-one percent of voters, including 40 percent of Democrats, 40 percent of Independents, and 42 percent of Republicans, have heard “some” about the investigation.
The committee has held several televised hearings to share the results of its investigation with the general public. Of the voters who have heard or read about the investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, 55 percent of voters have watched, heard, or read “a lot” or “some” about the televised hearings, including 74 percent of Democrats, 55 percent of Independents, and 37 percent of Republicans. Meanwhile, 16 percent of voters have heard “nothing at all,” including 5 percent of Democrats, 18 percent of Independents, and 25 percent of Republicans.
Voters support the Jan. 6 investigation by a +25-point margin, including Democrats by a +82-point margin, Independents by a +24-point margin, and a third of Republicans.
We then asked voters to read a list of public figures and groups, then indicate how responsible they think those figures are for the events of Jan. 6. Among voters:
57 percent of voters believe Trump Republicans in Congress are responsible
63 percent of voters believe Republicans in Congress who rejected legal votes are responsible
61 percent of voters believe Trump is responsible
Voters are unequivocally paying attention to the Jan. 6 proceedings. Candidates should strongly consider their positionality to Trump and fraudulent election claims as they run for office, knowing that voters are considering last year’s attack on the Capitol.
Bella Kumar (@bellakkumar) is a communications intern at Data for Progress.
Abby Springs (@abby_springs) is the Press Assistant at Data for Progress.