capitol protest
Approximately half of all Republicans have bought into false claims that have emerged following the Capitol riot, according to a new poll.

Fifty-one percent of Republicans surveyed believe the January siege was largely nonviolent, and 55% said it was the handiwork of left-wing activists "trying to make Trump look bad," a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, released on Monday, found. The poll also found that only 3 in 10 Republicans agreed that former President Donald Trump bears some responsibility for the riot at the Capitol, much lower than the 59% of the public who believe that.

Eight in 10 Republicans still view Trump favorably, as well.

The poll was conducted March 30-31 in the United States and interviewed 1,005 people, including 379 Republicans. In all, the poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%.

In the time leading up to the riot, Trump engaged in a monthslong campaign to overturn the outcome of the election. His campaign filed dozens of lawsuits challenging the voting outcomes in battleground states that ultimately went for Joe Biden. The claims ranged from a vote-flipping scheme to foreign interference while also arguing state legislatures unconstitutionally changed the way elections work in their respective states.

Additionally, Trump took part in a rally on the morning of Jan. 6 in which he urged thousands of supporters to march to Congress to express their discontent with the certification of Biden's victory.

The throng of Trump supporters, which Trump recently claimed was nonviolent, caused Congress to evacuate, halting the certification process for hours, and clashed with law enforcement. Seven people died that day or in the aftermath of it.

Since January, some Republicans have sought to question the accounts of what took place and who was involved in it.

On the night of the riot, Republicans Matt Gaetz, who is now facing an investigation of his own, Paul Gosar, and Mo Brooks all speculated that the violence could have come from antifa organizers trying to implicate Trump supporters.


Gaetz, who is currently being investigated over claims of sexual abuse of a minor, referenced a now-corrected Washington Times article that claimed a facial recognition company used its technology and identified antifa agitators among the crowd.


Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, also speculated that the rioters may not have been Trump supporters. During the first Senate hearing on the Capitol attack, he read excerpts from an article published by the Federalist that alleged there were "plainclothes militants," "agent-provocateurs," and "fake Trump protesters" among the crowd.

Trump has also tried to rewrite the narrative of what happened on the day.

"It was zero threat. Right from the start, it was zero threat," Trump said in a Fox News interview on March 25. "Look, they went in. They shouldn't have done it. Some of them went in, and they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards. You know, they had great relationships."

As a result of the riot, Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives in January for "incitement of insurrection," and the Senate conducted his trial after he had been removed from office for the beginning of the Biden administration. Seven Republican senators joined Democrats in voting to convict the president, making it the most bipartisan vote to convict in presidential impeachment history, though it was not enough to convict him.