While the vast majority of Americans think those who participated in the deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6 should be held to account, a smaller but significant faction of Republican voters both empathize with the rioters and think too much is being made of the attack.
The departure of a sizable number of Republicans from mainstream views about the Capitol siege turned up in a pair of polls this week from Pew Research Center and Monmouth University.
While Pew found that a solid 69% majority of Americans believe that prosecuting the rioters is "very important," just 50% of Republicans (and GOP leaners) agree with that view.
In a separate question regarding whether the Capitol riot and its fallout was receiving the right amount of attention, 54% of Republicans said the assault was getting "too much" attention. But among the general population, just 28% of respondents said the siege was getting “too much” attention, while 71% said it was either getting "too little" attention (27%) or "about the right amount" (44%).
The Monmouth survey also found a sizable amount of empathy among Republicans for the mindset of the rioters.
On the whole, just one in four Americans say that, regardless of the actual actions taken on Jan. 6, the anger that led to the riot was either fully justified (8%) or partially justified (18%). But, adds Monmouth, "Those saying the anger that led to the attack was at least partially justified includes 40% of Republicans, 30% of independents, and even 10% of Democrats."
A large contingent of Republicans also continue to believe Donald Trump was the rightful winner of the election, with nearly two-thirds (65%) baselessly maintaining that Biden’s win was the result of voter fraud. Another 29% of Republicans say they will never accept Biden as president.
Among the general population, 62% of Americans say Biden won the election fair and square.