Double Standard: Mainstream Media Peddles Evidence-Free Accusations of Coordination in Capitol Attack

Liberal media is giving Democrats a pass when peddling baseless conspiracy theories about Republican representatives aiding rioters in the lead-up to the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Few are calling the media out on their double standard.

Summary

As Congress and the nation continues to make sense of how the January 6^th attack on Capitol Hill unfolded, accusations are flying that rioters had “inside help” from Republican members of Congress.

• In a Facebook video, Democratic Representative Mikie Sherrill made the first public statement about the possibility of Republican representatives leading “reconnaissance” tours of the Capitol for the benefit of those who would break into the Capitol the next day.
• NorthJersey.com confirmed the Capitol Police are conducting an investigation into Sherrill’s claims, despite “little to no evidence.”
• Sherrill’s evidence-free accusation has snowballed into insistence from many Democrats in Congress that the January 6^thviolence as “an inside job” and that there is reason to believe representatives are “passing this information on to help those who staged the attack,” despite no evidence.
• One Democratic representative referred to “public reports” of collusion when asked for the reason for signing on to a letter demanding an investigation.

• CBS News repeated these claims of inside help without using the caveat that those making the accusations have provided no evidence. This stands in contrast to their coverage regarding claims about irregularities or fraudulent activities related to the 2020 elections.
• The Washington Post also cast a double standard with respect to evidence-free accusations, reporting Sherrill’s claim without proof as though it was fact, while repeatedly using the word “baseless” when reporting on accusations by Republican politicians on a variety of issues.
• While the New York Times reports the “conspiracy theories” of antifa or Black Lives Matter infiltration of the Capitol mob (despite real and irrefutable evidence at least one leftist provocateur was involved in the attack), the outlet uncritically parroted the so far unproven allegation of coordination.

• When reporting on Capitol Police’s investigation into Sherrill’s accusations, OANN characterized the move as Democrats attempting to shift the blame.
• Republican Congressman Pat Fallon was interviewed by Newsmax regarding the development. Fallon called out the double standard saying “when a liberal makes a comment or a statement or an assertion, then they have to carry weight and have to be taken seriously and looked into — when there’s no evidence whatsoever.”
• Fox News reports that Sherrill’s accusations are based on seeing people wearing red MAGA hats walking around the Capitol complex while also reporting the outlet received no response when asking the Capitol Police and the Sergeant-at-Arms offices for evidence.

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© Dallas Gerber, 2021