A Night at the D.C. Jail

If you ask most elected Republicans on Capitol Hill, they will insist—sometimes irately—that the events of January 6, 2021 and the baseless conspiracies about a stolen election are old news, not on anyone’s minds, the Republican party is moving on. Of course, none of that is true. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is obsessed with the 2020 election and the attack on the Capitol. Relitigating the chaos he started is a central component of his 2024 campaign. His deputies have even implemented believing the lies (or at least attesting to them) as a litmus test for prospective hires at the Republican National Committee, according to a recent report from the Washington Post.

Most members of Congress who go along with the 2020 election lies do so out of self-preservation or as part of a long game to advance in the party’s ranks. Publicly rebuking Trump can be a career killer—or possibly a real killer, as it tends to draw the wrath of Trump’s supporters, who frequently level death threats. But for non-elected Republicans, the issue is much more personal and, in a way, less cynical.

On Wednesday I went to the nightly vigil for the January 6th inmates at the Washington, D.C. jail to ask the attendees about their experience regurgitating one of the most easily debunked lies of the past several decades. Every night from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m., a handful of the most dedicated believers of the former president’s lies stand on the corner to preach, complain, and even sing. Regular attendees at the vigil include wives and relatives of the inmates. For some of them, it appears to be a deeply spiritual experience, while for others it seems to be just a way to pass the time. And unlike most Republican lawmakers, the vigil attendees have fully bought into the nonsense—for the feeling of belonging, or as part of their shared trauma, or both.