Ed Martin, a longtime right-wing operative and a mentor to “Stop the Steal” activist Ali Alexander, posted a video on Periscope Friday morning about what he calls the “Pelosi hoax of January 6th.”
Martin downplayed the seriousness of the attack on the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump, calling it a protest at which some people “acted like idiots.” Martin falsely claimed that there was no evidence of anyone having been armed and falsely claimed that there has been no identified link between white nationalists and the Capitol insurrectionists. In truth, there was plenty of evidence of armed Trump loyalists and white nationalists at the Capitol, and more has emerged as arrests have been made.
Here’s part of what Martin had to say in Friday’s video:
Here’s the reality. The Pelosi hoax of Jan. 6 is an effort to do two things: one is to cover up for her mismanagement of the Capitol security, but the bigger one is to use it as a divider to try to push people away from what? From having voted for Trump and having wondered, "What happened on Nov. 3?” People are wondering. But instead, let’s focus on white supremacy, neo-Nazis, and domestic terrorism, none of which have been shown in any way, shape, or form to have been a part of what happened on Jan. 6. It’s sick. It’s twisted. It’s very, very dangerous.
Martin is president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles and was an early organizer of the so-called Stop the Steal campaign, a disinformation campaign that falsely accused Democrats of stealing the election from Trump. Early Stop the Steal protests attracted extremists and paramilitary groups, as did the Stop the Steal rally immediately preceding the Capitol insurrection.
Pelosi has called for an independent commission to investigate the insurrection, along the lines of the commission that investigated the 9/11 attacks. But Martin called that plan a Pelosi “cover-up” of her failure to ensure security as “CEO of the Capitol building,” and he denounced retired Lt. Gen Russel Honore, whom Pelosi appointed to lead the commission, as “a partisan conspiracy theorist.” Martin said:
Now think of how insane this is: 9/11 was foreign national terrorists attacking America. There’s nothing comparable to American citizens having a rally or protest or whatever and some of them acting like idiots.
Martin told his followers that “Big Tech,” “Big Media,” and “Big Government” are working together to divide the country and encourage conservatives to fight among themselves. In response to a question about who would replace the late right-wing radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, Martin said nobody in radio has the power that Limbaugh had, adding that the only person who could replace him, “who understands entertainment as well as the center-right politics of the moment,” is Trump.
Speaking of Trump, Martin’s colleagues John and Andy Schlafly, sons of the late right-wing activist Phyllis Schlafly, posted a column on the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles site Tuesday mocking Never Trumpers. They also celebrated state and local GOP organizations that censured senators who voted to convict Trump in his impeachment trial for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection. The Schlafly brothers called Republican senators who voted for conviction “a discredited bunch of Trump-haters, lame ducks, and recalcitrant globalists.”
“Voter turnout decides elections now, and that requires enthusiasm for the Republican candidate,” the Schlaflys wrote. “Trump has it, while his detractors do not.”
The Schlafly brothers also downplayed the seriousness of the deadly attack on the Capitol:
The hundreds of thousands of Americans who rallied for Trump on January 6th disrupted the carefully laid plans of the Trump-haters. America has a rich history of disrespectful, raucous protests dating back to the Boston Tea Party.
It is the mockery of the sanctimonious officials which incurred their wrath against the mostly peaceful, even fun-seeking, protesters. Nobody likes to be ridiculed, and the self-centered political elite in D.C. dislike it most of all.
…
Congressional tyrants have demanded arresting hundreds of political protesters who made their way into the Capitol, a public building holding a proceeding that should have been open to the public. Complaints are about a little vandalism, but that pales in comparison to the looting of Americans’ pocketbooks by Congress.
…
As many as 800 people are becoming political prisoners of retaliation by Trump-haters, and this emerges as a leading issue in the midterm elections next year. Some are veterans who have risked their lives defending our freedoms against foreign enemies.
Perhaps Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi would be more comfortable serving in the government of China, where harmless protests are brutally suppressed.
