In retrospect, Republican voters have come to two conclusions about the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol: Donald Trump wasn’t really at fault for inciting it, and arresting the perpetrators doesn’t seem nearly as urgent as it did back in January. 

According to a recently released Daily Kos/Civiqs poll, just 5% of GOP voters now hold “Donald Trump and other Republicans” responsible for the violent attack, while a 44% plurality say “individuals with their own agendas” were at fault, and another 41% place the blame on “Joe Biden and other Democrats.” In other words, GOP voters would like to pin blame for the Capitol siege on almost anybody but Trump and Republicans.

Among Democratic voters, 92% hold Trump and Republicans accountable, as do a 46% plurality of independents.

Below is the partisan breakdown.

Who Voters Hold Most Responsible for Jan. 6 Attack (Civiqs)

	
		
        Total
        Democrat
        Republican
        Independent
	


	
        Trump and other Republicans
        50%
        92%
        5%
        46%
	
	
        Biden and other Democrats
        21%
        3%
        41%
        22%
	
	
        individuals with own agendas
        22%
        5%
        44%
        20%
	
	
        Someone else
        5%
        0%
        8%
        8%
	
	
        unsure
        2%
        0%
        2%
        3%

But Republicans voters aren’t just letting Trump off the hook, they’ve also become much more likely over the last six months to go easy on the terrorists themselves. In Civiqs polling from January, 90% of GOP voters favored arresting certain perpetrators of the attack, but by July, just 55% favored arresting the attackers. Back in January, just 8% of GOP voters rejected making arrests of any kind; by July, 38% said no arrests should be made. 

While nearly all Democratic voters still favor arresting the attackers (97% now versus 99% in January), support from independent voters has also trailed off some—from 91% in January to 69% now.

Here’s the back-to-back data from January versus July:

January support for Arresting people who stormed capitol (Civiqs)

	
		
        Total
        Democrat
        Republican
        Independent
	


	
        Everyone should be arrested
        62%
        88%
        35%
        58%
	
	
        arrest if they caused damage, injury
        31%
        11%
        55%
        33%
	
	
        No, should not be arrested
        5%
        1%
        8%
        6%
	








July Support For Arresting People Who Stormed Capitol (Civiqs)

	
		
        Total
        Democrat
        Republican
        Independent
	


	
        Everyone should be Arrested
        51%
        86%
        16%
        44%
	
	
        Arrest if they caused damage, Injury
        24%
        11%
        39%
        25%
	
	
        No, should not be arrested
        20%
        2%
        38%
        23%

Donald Trump, along with many Republican lawmakers, has spent the last six months relentlessly gaslighting the country about what really happened on Jan. 6. Initially, some Republican lawmakers and GOP supporters sought to blame activists on the left for the assault, suggesting the mob was filled with members of antifa who were simply impersonating Trump supporters. 

But ultimately Trump and his acolytes in Congress settled on a different narrative: It was a “loving crowd” that mostly enjoyed a casual day of tourist activities at the Capitol.

“There was a lot of love,” Trump told journalists Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker in a March interview for their book, I Alone Can Fix It. Trump also said he had a shared agenda with the crowd. “Personally, what I wanted is what they wanted,” he said, while also falsely claiming the Capitol Police had greeted the rioters warmly. 

“The Capitol Police were very friendly. They were hugging and kissing. You don’t see that,” Trump claimed.

Nope, you sure don’t because it never happened, as the four police officers who helped defend the Capitol that day made perfectly clear in congressional testimony last week. 

As pitiful and repugnant as the excuses of Trump and GOP lawmakers have become, their voters—along with many conservative-leaning independents—have eagerly embraced the revisionist history.

The fact that 85% of Republican voters are eager to place blame for the assault on someone other than Trump and GOP lawmakers is nothing short of rank delusion. And at the same time that GOP voters are faulting anyone besides Trump, they’ve also grown considerably less interested in holding the perpetrators themselves accountable.

The bottom line is, the appetite of Republican voters to hold anyone accountable for the worst attack on the U.S. seat of government since 1812 has plummeted right alongside the GOP’s disinformation campaign about the day’s events.