Straight from the editorial page of the conservative-leaning newspaper which also happens to be the newspaper with the largest circulation in the United States:
No matter your views of the Jan. 6 special committee, the facts it is laying out in hearings are sobering. The most horrifying to date came Thursday in a hearing on President Trump’s conduct as the riot raged and he sat watching TV, posting inflammatory tweets and refusing to send help.
No matter your views of the Jan. 6 special committee, the facts it is laying out in hearings are sobering. The most horrifying to date came Thursday in a hearing on President Trump’s conduct as the riot raged and he sat watching TV, posting inflammatory tweets and refusing to send help.
All of MAGA world was texting Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that Mr. Trump needed to call off his supporters. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone testified that he argued internally “there needs to be a public announcement, fast, that they need to leave the Capitol.” He added that Mr. Meadows joined those calls throughout the day, as did Ivanka Trump…
The committee’s critics are right that it lacks political balance. It is trying to make a criminal case that might be hard to prove and might tear the country apart. It undermines its argument by not releasing full transcripts of testimony. Why rely on what Ms. Matthews said that Ms. McEnany said that Mr. Trump said? The committee interviewed Ms. McEnany.
Still, the brute facts remain: Mr. Trump took an oath to defend the Constitution, and he had a duty as Commander in Chief to protect the Capitol from a mob attacking it in his name. He refused. He didn’t call the military to send help. He didn’t call Mr. Pence to check on the safety of his loyal VP. Instead he fed the mob’s anger and let the riot play out.
In the 18 months since, Mr. Trump has shown not an iota of regret. On Thursday he claimed to be vindicated by a bill to clarify the Electoral Count Act. “Mike Pence told me, and everybody else, there was nothing he could do,” Mr. Trump wrote. “If so, how come the Democrats and RINOs are working so hard to make sure there is nothing a VP can do.”
Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial. Mr. Trump utterly failed his.
Read the entire piece here.