Fewer Americans blame Trump for Jan. 6 riot today: Survey

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More than one year after the January 6 attacks on the US Capitol, Americans are still deeply divided about what happened that day and about the ongoing investigation.

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, the number of US adults who think today that Donald Trump bore a lot of responsibility for the violent actions carried out by his supporters that day is less than last year's number. While 52 percent were convinced in the immediate wake of the January 6 attacks that he bore responsibility, only 43 percent still have the same opinion. 

While the percentage has changed little since then, more Americans believe today that the then-president bears no responsibility for the riot caused by his supporters: 24 percent used to believe last year that he did not bear responsibility, but the number rose to 32 percent this year, in the survey conducted from January 10 till January 17.

The declines in the numbers of those who say Trump bears responsibility were noticed among both Republicans and Democrats. Nearly 57 percent of Republicans today say that he bears no responsibility at all for the riots, compared to 46 percent last year. That is around 6 in 10 Republicans, while it's 7 in 10 among the Democrats.

American attention to the January 6 riot

As for the views related to the level of attention given to the riot, the public is still divided about them. One-third of Americans said in September 2021 that the events received the right amount of attention, while those who said the events took too much attention are 35 percent, and those who said they took too little attention are 31 percent.

These percentages have changed a little, as 65 percent now say the riot has taken too much attention, 22 percent say it took the right amount of attention, and 12 percent say it has taken too little attention.

About 48 percent of Democrats say the events of January 6 took too little attention, 41 percent say they took the right amount of attention, and 11 percent say they took more than needed.

Trustworthy congressional investigation?

The study shows that 45 percent of Americans say that they somewhat trust the fairness and reasonableness of the committee's investigation, while 54 percent are not very confident or not confident at all about it.

Among Republicans, 79 percent say they have little or no confidence at all in the fairness of the committee's investigation,  while among Democrats, 65 percent say they somewhat trust that the investigation is fair and reasonable, while 27% say they are very confident about it.

Who was the rightful winner of the 2020 election?

Regarding whether the rightful winner of the 2020 election was Donald Trump or Joe Biden, Republicans are divided in their views. A 2021-survey showed that about two-thirds of Republicans were sure (33 percent) or somewhat sure (33 percent) it was Trump who won the presidential election.

These same republicans "overwhelmingly absolve" Trump from responsibility for the January 6 riot, and think the riots took too much attention and do not trust the fairness of the investigation.

34 percent of Republicans say Biden definitely or probably won the presidential election and 31 percent of these say Trump does not bear responsibility for the destruction and violence that took place at the Capitol. This compares with 72 percent among those who say Trump probably or definitely won.