‘Mr. Trump’s role as a coup-plotter has been made crystal clear,’ expert says

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson revealed at Tuesday’s surprise Jan. 6 committee hearing that Donald Trump and his top advisors knew supporters at the rally were armed and that Trump wanted them to be able to march to the Capitol anyway. 

Northwestern University political science and history experts discuss the latest round of explosive testimony from the hearings.

History professor Kate Masur is Board of Visitors Professor at Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern. Her research interests are U.S. history, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the anti-slavery movement, emancipation, race, politics and the state. Masur is author of “Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction” (W.W. Norton, 2021), a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in history. She can be reached at kmasur@northwestern.edu.

Quote from Professor Masur
“Political violence has always been part of the American fabric. Southern political leaders’ decision to take up arms against the United States rather than accept Lincoln’s election in 1860 is one example from the 19th century that no American should want to see repeated. White supremacist violence against duly elected state governments during Reconstruction is another. Recent testimony before the Jan. 6 committee makes it ever clearer that former President Trump knowingly urged an armed mob to attack Congress and stop the count of electoral votes. Trump has now distinguished himself as the only president in U.S. history who attempted to subvert the Constitution and the rule of law to remain in office. The continued silence of many of his closest allies, and his ongoing popularity among voters, suggest that American democracy remains in great danger.”

Alvin B. Tillery Jr. is an associate professor of political science and director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern. His research focuses on American political development, racial and ethnic politics and media and politics. He can be reached at alvin.tillery@northwestern.edu.

Quote from Professor Tillery
“The testimony from senior-level staffers from within the Trump administration had been both riveting and incredibly damaging to Mr. Trump and his allies in Congress. While it is still uncertain if the DOJ will prosecute Mr. Trump, his role as a coup-plotter has been made crystal clear over the past two hearings.” 

Additional faculty experts on the Jan. 6 committee hearings can be found on Northwestern’s For Journalists website.