On Jan. 6, a mob of pro-Trump extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election results. President Trump fomented the MAGA mob and celebrated it, along with several of his lackeys, particularly disgraced former New York City Mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. When people attacked the Capitol, the Trump lapdog falsely proclaimed to the gathered crowd that “every single thing that has been outlined as the plan for today is perfectly legal.”
The spectacle, which was directly incited by Trump and in which at least four people died, with many more injured, was a direct attack on the functioning of our republic, America’s grand tradition of peaceful transitions of power, and against the crucial but beleaguered constitutional doctrine of separation of powers. All those involved should be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Trump should be impeached and removed from office for his precipitating involvement in this stain on our nation’s history.
His actions were seditious and bordering on insurrection, which involves actions against civil authority or an established government. I am even tempted to say, in the words of George Bluth, that Trump engaged in some “light treason.”
But what did not happen on Jan. 6 was an attempt at a coup. Despite what many news headlines and crisis mongers on Twitter may realize, a coup, short for coup d’etat, is a particular form of political and military action. And this did not meet the definitional or historical criteria. As historian Daniel Bessner pointed out, “Were their plans to win the military and police to their side? To install new ministers in government? To arrest, murder, or exile political opponents?” No.
History, both recent and ancient, provides us numerous examples from which to compare. As I noted in these pages last month, Julius Caesar executed his coup against the Roman Republic at the head of an army, crossing the Rubicon river to march on Rome. When Napoleon launched his coup in 1799, he seduced two of the five French directory members (the ruling legislative body) to his cause. With bribes and the genuine threat of personal violence, he forced the legislature to install him in a special session held outside of Paris. When the lower legislative chamber resisted, Napoleon, who had just returned from a successful military campaign in Egypt, had the military cordon off a small group of handpicked legislators, who, under their eye, went on to abolish the Directory. In 1969, Muammar al Qaddafi accomplished his “bloodless” coup in Libya by waiting until then-King Idris was out of the country (at a spa, no less) to surround the royal palace with an armed military force and take control of the state.
Last week’s event saw none of this. And while Trump might not give a damn about the truth, words still mean things.
—J. Grant Addison
