The violent insurrection in Washington, D.C. Wednesday was both utterly predictable and unimaginable. My feelings about those events go well beyond the scope of this blog, so instead of laying out my feelings, I’m going to share a variety of responses to how our media responded to these events over the next few days.
It’s been striking seeing newspapers calling from President Trump to resign. We saw editorials calling for Nixon to resign during the Watergate era, and these often came from newspapers that had supported him in the past, such as the LA Times and the Omaha World-Herald. There was also editorial support for resignation when President Clinton was impeached for lying about an extramarital affair.
Here are a number of editorials from around the nation reacting to Wednesday’s events. The first one here, however, is by far the most surprising – The Wall Street Journal. This paper has one of the most conservative editorial pages in the country and is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
The Editorial Board: If Trump wants to avoid a second impeachment, his best path would be to take personal responsibility and resign. https://t.co/x13Ngb8WZV
— Wall Street Journal Opinion (@WSJopinion) January 8, 2021
More to be expected were editorials from the Washington Post, the first calling for Trump’s removal from office, the second for some form of punishment:
From the Washington Post Editorial Board:
Trump caused the assault on the Capitol. He must be removed. https://t.co/ZPHJGvmdTP pic.twitter.com/T9wqtBwJBx
— Washington Post Opinions (@PostOpinions) January 7, 2021
Pence and the Cabinet must prepare themselves to act, if the president retreats from his latest promise to go quietly, the Editorial Board writes https://t.co/qNHWj4ukvu
— Washington Post Opinions (@PostOpinions) January 9, 2021
While the NY Times has had a range of editorials about Wednesday’s riots, one of the most powerful states, “No Americans should have to lose their lives to a transition of presidential power.”
The most pressing issue facing the nation right now is how to grind out the closing days of the Trump era without further irreparable harm to the Republic. No more Americans should have to lose their lives to a transition of presidential power. https://t.co/Dszu3rD6xT
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) January 8, 2021
Coming soon: Front pages, reactions from around the world, and stories of hope from dark times.