By Marty Owen
Let me put this bluntly: Those who have not listened personally to Trump’s speech on Jan. 6 at the Save America rally, who nevertheless assert as an established fact the narrative put forth by leftist news sources that Trump incited people to riot, are allowing ignorance to set their tongues wagging. We know that news agencies have their own biases and that there is often more to a situation than meets the eye. In a world full of emotional manipulation, lying propaganda and psychological warfare used to stir human passions, how do we look past media hype to arrive at a true picture of particular situations?
The answer lies in using our critical faculties to analyze situations logically. Of course we need to pray that God may give us discernment, but we also need to apply the power of logic to our analysis of what we hear. That requires us to do several things:
1. Go to the primary sources. If journalists tell you that Trump incited people to riot by his speech, the only way you can determine whether that is true or not is by listening to his speech and drawing your own conclusions. I have listened to Trump’s speech, and in my judgment, he said nothing in that speech that could honestly be interpreted as a call to riot, loot, destroy property, threaten people’s lives, etc. If you assert dogmatically that he did incite people to riot, but have not listened to his speech, that only shows you are taking “on faith” what an incredibly biased anti-Trump news media has told you. It shows that you are naive about the political “neutrality” of the press corps and, therefore, are easily manipulated. Go to the original source; listen to Trump’s speech for yourself, or read the transcript of his speech on the internet.
2. Consider the testimony of eyewitnesses who were present at an event and witnessed it firsthand. When you do that, you will realize that the testimony of many who were present at the Save America rally contrasts dramatically with the narrative the press is asking people to believe. Many who were present testify to the fact that they heard nothing in Trump’s speech which could be reasonably interpreted as an incitement to violence. They testify to the peaceful, respectful and orderly character of the crowd that was present, many of them carrying flags and signs, but not guns, showing that they did not come there to engage in an insurrection, but to encourage their elected officials to do the right thing in compliance with the law.
Many of these eyewitnesses testify to how a relatively small group of individuals who did not exhibit the same spirit or, in some cases, even look like the majority of people present, began to cause trouble at the Capitol building. While a small group advanced aggressively on the Capitol and entered it, many others moved away from the building, realizing that something quite evil and wrong was taking place. People were in fact surprised and confused at what they saw happening.
One witness said he heard a troublemaker say to his colleagues, “We need to shake things up so that these people will look bad.” A a result of such experiences, many eyewitnesses who were present believe that the small group of rioters was composed – at least, in part – by Antifa members and other violent revolutionary types disguised as Trump supporters. These infiltrated the rally precisely to give the press corps an opportunity to paint Trump supporters as a group of lawless insurrectionists, ready to explode like a stack of dynamite in order to overthrow the government through mob violence. The experience of many eyewitnesses who were present, whose personal testimony contradicts the narrative of the leftist media, needs to be considered.
3. Consider historical precedent. Historically, Trump supporters have been noted for their restraint and their orderly and law-abiding character at rallies. Many are professing Christians who believe strongly in the rule of law and in the need to submit to the governing authorities, even while protesting injustice, as an expression of trust in God. Though passionate in their convictions, they have not expressed those passions historically through violent means by setting fire to buildings, smashing windows, looting stores, assaulting innocent bystanders, etc. But that is precisely what pro-Democrat groups like Antifa and BLM have done for the better part of a year, which is all the more reason to take seriously the reports that some leftist agitators disguised as Trump supporters appear to have taken an active, perhaps even the leading, role in this disturbance.
4. Use common sense and reason to analyze narratives you are being asked to believe. Think about the logic of what you are being told by the press and ask yourself if it makes sense. The claim is that Trump incited people to riot. Why in the world would Trump want people to riot– to smash windows, vandalize, threaten lives, or commit acts of assault? That makes no sense at all, and it was clearly contrary to his intentions for this rally. Why would Trump want rioters to bring to a screeching halt proceedings inside the Capitol building which were his last hope of obtaining justice and turning the election around? The senators and House members inside were arguing for fraudulent electoral votes to be discounted and for allegations of fraud to be investigated for 10 days by a congressional committee. Trump is no dummy; he of all people would know that rioting would bring proceedings to a halt; so unless Trump has a split personality and was working for two opposite goals at the same time, he clearly did not want people to riot, which would derail everything and dash all hopes for things being turned around.
What was the president’s purpose, then, in instructing people to go to the Capitol building? Exactly what he said it was in his speech! Early in his speech, he said, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to PEACEFULLY AND PATRIOTICALLY make your voices heard.” Then at the end of his speech he said, “So we are going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue – I love Pennsylvania Avenue – and we´re going to the Capitol, and we are going to try and give our Republicans – the weak ones, because the strong ones don´t need any of our help – we are going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness they need to take back our country. So let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. I want to thank you all, God bless you and God bless America.”
These words make Trump´s intention´s clear. Making use of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, he wanted people to manifest outside the Capitol building “peacefully and patriotically” (his own words), so that those inside would hear the heartbeat of thousands of passionate patriots manifesting peacefully, in the hope that the weak Republicans in the House and Senate might be emboldened to stand up for the Constitution and the rule of law. In other words, Trump´s own words show that his intentions were totally in line with the First Amendment, a guaranteed, God-given right to peaceful assembly and protest that no government has any authority to take away!
The last thing Trump would have wanted, obviously, is for idiots to ruin everything by rioting – which is what some knuckleheads did, either “lunatic fringe” supporters whose contempt for the rule of law finds no support in Trump’s speech, or Antifa operatives who disguised themselves as Trump supporters.
Personally, I don’t believe for a moment that Trump organized this event to incite acts of violence, vandalism, or insurrection, which makes no sense, if you think about it logically. This is clearly a deceitful narrative created by the left, prior to the facts being fully investigated and known, in order to achieve a political end – to turn public opinion against Trump and his supporters and to provide a pretext for censoring Trump by closing his social media accounts. Their goal is to make Trump look like a dangerous criminal, a lawless insurrectionist, which neither he nor those who support his policies are. That way, Trump’s voice and conservative, populist message will be silenced as people feel intimidated to echo that message. Those who rioted were denying everything that the rally and that Trump’ s message stood for– which was actually a call for the rule of law to be upheld and to prevail – a goal totally at odds with lawless rioting.
In these days of so much fake news and emotional propaganda, let us be sure that we apply our critical faculties to get past the hype to the reality of situations that develop, in order to see them clearly. Let us not take for granted the truth-telling of highly biased news sources. Go to the primary sources, consider the testimony of multiple eyewitnesses, consider historical precedent, and use common sense to analyze logically the narratives you are being asked to believe.
Marty Owen has served in pastoral ministry both in the southern United States and in Europe. He is currently serving as a missionary pastor in southern Spain, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
This article was originally published by the WND News Center.