Trump might be president today if he had been more active in shutting down the riots of 2020.
A lot of hte Never Trumpers have become the strongest Trump uspporters, while he’s losing a lot of his hardcore supporters.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/05/us/portland-protests-100-nights/index.html
Language matters.
Politicians, social activists and the media try to manipulate folks by using words and their emotional association.
If Portland, where they sprayed graffiti on the walls, lit tires in the streets, declared an autonomous zone, and lit federal court houses on fire were “protests,” then let's stick with that term for the capital/6 January which was mostly nonviolent and most the folks entering the capital did no damage.
The term “insurrection” or “riot” is a pejorative/negative.
The term “protest” or “demonstration” is a neutral.
That said, 6 January is a political purge.
That sort of thing happens all the time in the dirty world of politics. It has been done all through history, from Europe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge to Asia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution Or the Middle East: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLUktJbp2Ug (you need to watch that, classic!)
***Do you realize that Biden with one swoop eliminated 3 major grass roots organizations leaders? The Proud Boys, Oath Takers and one more were decapitated using the DOJ. These are folks which would have caused for continued trouble. At the same time, those questioning the election outcome were de-legitimized in the eyes of the public. Finally, the supporters of Trump, or just those that question the elections (not necessarily the same), were intimidated. The FBI in an unprecedented move (but which was not a media story) decided to interview even those people that did not enter the capital (i.e. broke no laws). How do you think most people react when they are interviewed and get subtle threats thrown their way by an FBI agent?***
These protesters were persecuted, not prosecuted. It was a political purge no different than what Stalin, Mao, Adolf, or Saddam did. Thankfully, in the US, we still do not execute people on the spot as in some other places. We do have no kidding “political prisoners,” but we don't just shoot and bury them in hidden mass graves as elsewhere. But we do use the force of the intel service and law enforcement to consolidate power. The DOJ is led by political appointees! Guess who they are in reality loyal too? Guess what they try to use the agency they lead for?
Quite the opposite is the case. If Trump is elected, and if any of these folks are still in prison, there should be a neutral/independent review of those folks. The ones that have any sort of criminal record should also receive a review. Do not expect spineless Republicans to back their grass root supporters like the Democrats: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-biden-bail/biden-staff-donate-to-group-that-pays-bail-in-riot-torn-minneapolis-idUSKBN2360SZ