The Next Big Lies: Jan. 6 Was No Big Deal, or a Left-Wing Plot

How revisionist histories of Jan. 6 picked up where the “stop the steal” campaign left off, warping beliefs about what transpired at the Capitol.

It was mere hours after a mob spurred on by the “stop the steal” lies of President Donald J. Trump had attacked the United States Capitol, and already new lies were taking hold in the nearby streets.

The police had pushed the few dozen remaining protesters off the Capitol grounds, but some continued to hurl threats and obscenities at a line of officers in riot gear. “Traitors get the rope,” a man shouted. “Wait until we come back with rifles.”

Only yards away, though, others were spinning fictions about what they had just witnessed, even joined.