What was it like during the January 6 Capitol Riots?

It’s been two years since Trump supporters broke into the U.S. Capitol building, in a show of extremism and political violence unlike anything Americans had seen in modern times. 

In episode two of Defending Democracy with Malcolm Turnbull, former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger joins Malcolm Turnbull and describes what it was like inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6 when rioters attempted a coup.  

Kinzinger, a Republican, was also a part of the vote to impeach Donald Trump and sat on the January 6 Committee to investigate the deadly attacks.  

But just how did everything unfold prior to the riots, why does it still matter two years on, and what’s next for the Republican Party?  

Listen to episode two of Defending Democracy with Malcolm Turnbull below:

Kinzinger said he felt a mix of emotions, including fear, when voting to impeach Trump, a decision that he’ll be proud of making knowing it was the right thing to do. 

“It is one of the moments that as time goes on probably, [I’ll be] most proud of my willingness to do the right thing.”

– Adam Kinzinger

Turnbull and Kinzinger further examine the current voting system in the United States comparing the way the country can choose to vote in contrast to the Australian voting system. 

Kinzinger believes right-wing media outlets in the United States, primarily Fox, undoubtedly had played part on January 6.  

“You probably wouldn’t have seen it because although actual January 6 you saw a lot of that organised and frilled in on some of the more radical sites, people wouldn’t have gotten to that point where [satanists were running the government].”  

“The problem is, when you are convinced over and over again on television, even if they are not a valid satanists and then you see on the internet that they drink babies’ blood, and you eventually self-radicalise to that point, that’s why you get January 6.  

“For democracies to survive you only need one thing: that if you vote, your vote counts.” 

The first two episodes of Defending Democracy with Malcolm Turnbull are available now on LiSTNR or wherever you get your podcasts.