History is Rewritten by the Winners

There’s an old saying, “history is written by the winners.” The saying implies that the perspective and interpretation of historical events have traditionally been controlled by those who were victorious. This further implies that the narratives are biased in favor of the winning side and may not fully represent what happened.

Although humanity has grown enough to reflect on many historical events, most history is influenced by those who gained power and wrote the books. And there’s no better time than now to see that this controlled interpretation of reality is being distorted by those who have the power to do so.

I’m talking about January 6, 2021. And I’m talking about Donald Trump.

Although there is plenty to discuss about Donald Trump’s historic election win in November and his destructive dismantling of democracy in the first few weeks of his presidency, it’s important to look at something specific and dangerous that is unfolding right before our eyes.

By the time Trump and the hard-lined conservatives get done with their current political terms, their goal is to make the insurrection attempt, incited by Donald Trump, seem like nothing more than a peaceful protest. And it will be achieved through more than just pardoning those terrorists.

The rewrite of history started before Trump took office. On the fourth anniversary of the horrendous event, elected officials started changing their messaging. Some said nothing. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy did not make an appearance or issue a statement about the events. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who had delivered one of the sharpest criticisms of Trump in the days after the attack, was silent and out of town. Many other elected Republicans also decided, now that Trump had won, it was no longer a day that needed commenting on.

But some went for it. Marjorie Taylor Greene referred to the insurrectionists as “political prisoners.”

Rep. Mike Collins inserted his foot into his mouth with force, tweeting: “On #ThisDayInHistory in 2021, thousands of peaceful grandmothers gathered in Washington, D.C., to take a self-guided, albeit unauthorized, tour of the U.S. Capitol building. Earlier that day, President Trump held a rally, where supporters walked to the Capitol to peacefully protest the certification of the 2020 election. During this time, some individuals entered the Capitol, took photos, and explored the building before leaving.”

First impression might show this is someone mocking Republicans changing the narrative, but it was anything but. Collins was serious, and more importantly, was posting with intent—to start a trend that, after Trump would complete his steps in the process of rewriting history, would come off like an accurate memory of what happened on that horrific day.

After the messages online were planted, Trump didn’t take long to put a dagger in the heart of the Capitol Police by pardoning and commuting more than 1,500 criminals, including those that violently attacked police that day.

Even though Trump had wavered on what this pardon would look like, and his lackey JD Vance promised every case would be looked at individually and the violent criminals would not be pardoned or commuted, all of them were pardoned or commuted on day one.

In the defense of some politicians, a handful of Republicans on Capitol Hill made quick statements condemning Trump, but many reminded Americans it wasn’t their decision. And most importantly, in the words of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, shared “it’s time to move forward.”

And move forward Johnson did, announcing on January 22nd that he would move forward by creating a new subcommittee on January 6th led by Republicans loyal to MAGA to look back at the events that occurred and break apart the work the original bipartisan committee had completed.

But, to successfully rewrite history, it would take more than pardoning insurrectionists, tweeting some lies, and pushing a new narrative from an obviously loyal committee. It would require silencing the opposition.

On January 31st, the Trump administration fired prosecutors involved in the January 6th cases. By February 4th, the administration had gained a detailed list of the more than 5,000 FBI employees that worked on the cases with a clear intent to remove them from the agency.

The far right had fed their baby parrots and had found a way to remove any lasting legacy that would formally and lawfully say different.

So, with all the horrific actions Trump and his team have committed so far, why am I opening Political Geekery by reflecting on this specific attempt to change a story we know the truth of?

Yes, today many of us remember what truly happened on January 6, 2021. Thousands of Trump supporters heard the then lame-duck President commanding them to “fight like hell,” and marched on the United States Capitol, violently attacking police officers as they hunted for Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi, and any other enemy they could get their hands on.

But even with that memory being fresh, many have already started to ignore it. Or worse, pretend it wasn’t as bad as it was. They have followed the narrative of “let’s move forward,” starting to ignorantly turn their backs to the truth.

Why would they have to acknowledge the truth when nobody is in prison being held accountable and those who prosecuted and proved these criminals committed violent acts are fired by Trump’s team under the false pretense of incompetence? Why acknowledge you’re supporting a regime that attacked the very democracy it swears to protect when a new committee finds that the first and bipartisan committee was politically motivated to attack Trump and his so-called patriots? And when we see five to ten more years of prominent Republican officials tweeting and posting on the anniversary about these protesters having been peaceful, why even bother to defend it anymore when the message will have shifted in their favor?

But it’s not just the Trump supporters of today who will benefit from this rewrite of history. The audience that didn’t witness these horrific events and weren’t sound enough to see America allow an insurrectionist to retake the keys to this country will all see a strongly rewritten and distorted view of history as they come of age and learn about America. And we, as a country, will have learned nothing, leading to a strong possibility of these horrific events occurring the next time a wealthy and selfish man finds himself more important than the country.

So as Republicans ask you on January 6, 2026 to pray for those political prisoners that were wrongfully prosecuted for just peacefully protesting on January 6, 2021, we will remember that they continue to put Trump over the country. But when they do it on January 6, 2031, will enough people still remember? And what about in 2041?

And if you don’t believe that this moment in history can be that strongly distorted, ask yourself why Texans so fondly remember the Alamo?