The surprising reason why Trump’s 'zombie army of followers' is 'beginning to turn on' him
06 January
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Tuesday marks the fifth-year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021. New York Times reporter Peter Baker noted that the since the day of rare bipartisan agreement that the attacks were unacceptable, conspiracy theories have cropped up about the day.
"By promoting unfounded conspiracy theories about Jan. 6, Trump and his allies have spawned what some experts call a zombie army of followers. And now by failing to validate these theories, that army is beginning to turn on them," wrote Baker on X.
He shared a piece by Alan Feuer and Dan Barry, noting that getting a pardon from President Donald Trump wasn't enough to satisfy many Jan. 6 participants. In their mind, "that those who assaulted the police and vandalized the historic building that day were victims, and those who spent the next four years using the criminal justice system to hold them accountable were villains."
Trump wants "a process of national reconciliation." However, the report said, those involved are consumed by conspiracy theories about Jan. 6. They're angry that Trump refuses to validate those same theories about the ordeal being a "deep-state setup." One conflict with that theory, however, is that Trump was leading the so-called "deep state" at the time.
“Being pardoned doesn’t make these families whole,” said Cynthia Hughes, an advocate for Jan. 6 defendants on social media. “Many are barely holding on mentally, emotionally and financially. To pretend otherwise is a lie.”
Trump maintains that rioters were the real victims who have "endured horrible, even illegal, mistreatment during their prosecutions. And yet if that is true, some pardoned rioters are now asking, then why haven’t their persecutors been thrown in jail? And if the rioters are martyrs to a righteous cause, as the president and his allies have often said, then why haven’t they been made whole through financial reparations?" the report questioned.
It added that some attackers ask why, after a year in office, Trump's law enforcement agencies haven't released any proof that their conspiracy theories are correct.
"What J6ers rarely seem to acknowledge is the possibility that Mr. Trump’s government has failed to reveal the hidden truth about Jan. 6 because there is no hidden truth, no deep-state conspiracy, and therefore no legal reason to bring further charges related to the riot," the report continued.
“If the true perpetrators of Jan. 6 aren’t held accountable before the statute of limitations expires on Jan. 6, 2026, count me OUT of the midterms,” wrote Shane Jenkins last month. He was convicted on several felonies for assaulting police. “I’ll be running AGAINST the GOP.”
Ultimately, Trump's lies have been taken to their logical conclusion, and some supporters are continuing to follow blindly.
That's why Baker refers to it as a "zombie army of followers."
Research fellow Jon Lewis, with the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, explained, “When you’re told day after day that you’re a victim — when you’re told that for four years straight — it sinks in. They’ve become conspiratorial-minded people looking for the next thing to mobilize for.”