In a damning op-ed, The Washington Examiner, a right-wing news outlet, declared former Republican President Donald Trump is "unfit to be anywhere near power ever again" in light of new revelations about his behavior on January 6, 2021, the day a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol on the false premise the 2020 general election had been stolen.
The Examiner, pointing to the testimony of a former White House aide who said Trump explicitly wanted his supporters to march on the Capitol despite knowing many of them were armed with weapons, said that what she relayed "was disturbing."
\u201cFrom the Washington Examiner\u2026. \n\nTrump proven unfit for power again https://t.co/oxYZH8bBue\u201d— Adam Kinzinger\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u270c\ufe0f (@Adam Kinzinger\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u270c\ufe0f) 1656510920
The outlet added:
"She gave believable accounts of White House awareness that the planned Jan. 6 rally could turn violent."
"She repeated testimony that Trump not only knew that then-Vice President Mike Pence’s life had been credibly threatened that day but also that he was somewhere between uncaring and actually approving of Pence’s danger."
The news outlet referred, of course, to Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows whose explosive testimony has spotlighted more of the former President's abuses of power.
Hutchinson told the House Select Committee tasked with investigating the January 6 insurrection that Trump had been "very concerned" about the shot camerapeople would get of the "Stop the Steal" event "because the rally space wasn't full."
Indeed, when Trump spoke, he kept making references to the size of the crowd, declaring that "thousands" of people were in attendance but that those viewing the proceedings from elsewhere that "you don't see hundreds of thousands of people behind you."
Hutchinson stressed that Trump was "angry" that the Secret Service was not allowing people who had arrived armed with weapons into the event. The footage shows Trump saying he "would love it if they could be allowed to come up here with us."
Hutchinson also said that she heard Trump say that those in attendance were "not here to hurt me" and had demanded that his security people "Let my people in" so they could "march to the Capitol after the rally's over."
Additionally, Hutchinson told the committee that a Secret Service agent told her Trump had gotten into a physical altercation when he attempted to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limousine.
By Hutchinson's recollection, the Secret Service agent said Trump had wanted to go to the United States Capitol and see his supporters.
Trump has dismissed Hutchinson's testimony describing her as a "total phony" in a post on Truth Social, his struggling social media platform, adding that the allegation that he attempted to grab the steering wheel of the presidential limousine "sick and fraudulent, very much like the Unselect Committee itself."
That one of the more prominent right-wing news outlets in the country could break with Republicans soon garnered considerable attention.
Many have echoed The Examiner's concerns and praised its editorial team for publishing the op-ed.
\u201cDon\u2019t miss this. The Washington Examiner is a conservative newspaper: \u201cTrump is a disgrace.\u201d Why this view isn\u2019t universal is mystifying. https://t.co/BBUYIw7mk1\u201d— Larry Sabato (@Larry Sabato) 1656603626
\u201cThe Washington Examiner has Dumped Trump!\n\nFox News says the words Seditious Conspiracy\n\nRupert is Out!\n\nDear Donald\n\nAdios!\u201d— Badd Company (@Badd Company) 1656517513
\u201cFinally.\nTrump has sunk so low, his supporters are waking up.\nUnless the Kool-Aid has numbed them completely.\n#TrumpCoupAttempt\u201d— Bob Stephenson (@Bob Stephenson) 1656561024
\u201cWelcome to reality Washington Examiner!\u201d— Charles Rosenberg (@Charles Rosenberg) 1656598982
\u201cThe right wing news site The Washington Examiner declares Trump 'unfit to be anywhere near power ever again'. Millions would agree.\u201d— Judith Olson (@Judith Olson) 1656645957
\u201cMy retweeting of an editorial by the Washington Examiner is a sure sign The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are on their way. \ud83d\ude33\n\nhttps://t.co/4iym7ud1r6\u201d— john hunigan (@john hunigan) 1656674674
\u201c\u201cTrump is a disgrace. Republicans have far better options to lead the party in 2024. No one should think otherwise, much less support him, ever again.\u201d \n~ Washington Examiner\nNeed I say more?\u201d— Jay W. Cook (@Jay W. Cook) 1656694118
\u201cHe lost the examiner?!?! Wow!!\u201d— Aneesa McMillan (@Aneesa McMillan) 1656539727
\u201cWow! Washington Examiner turning on Trump!\u201d— FiLosophy (@FiLosophy) 1656551498
The Examiner's op-ed generated significant outrage from the right-wing.
Conservative radio host Joe Pagliarulo accused the outlet of opposing "actual conservative values" and claimed that Hutchinson's testimony had been discredited by the Secret Service.
Similarly, Amber Athey, the Washington D.C. editor for The Specator, called the op-ed "beyond embarrassing," while conservative writer Jordan Schactel referred to the news outlet as "controlled opposition."
