> if what Trump was saying about the election were true, we would want this kind of reaction. This is an counterfactual to consider. Indeed, we should defend t

> if what Trump was saying about the election were true, we would want this kind of reaction. This is an counterfactual to consider. Indeed, we should defend the integrity of the democratic system at almost any cost. However, facts matter. Trump's statements about the election were not, in fact, true. They are lies. The votes have been counted, recounted and certified. The courts have been consulted. The media has investigated. Election observers from both campaigns watched the whole thing. Some of the insurrectionists may have thought they were defending democracy, but that doesn't change the fact that they were actually attacking the very democracy they claimed to defend. > how have we let misinformation get so bad that it ultimately forms insurrection? Catastrophically bad leadership. While the individual insurrectionists must fact justice, the leaders who intentionally deluded and incited them must also be held accountable. Just as a tolerant society cannot tolerate intolerance, a lawful democracy cannot tolerate democratically-elected leaders who use their authority to attack the core mechanisms of democracy.