Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the January 6, 2021, Committee, Spoke from Tradition

January 6 hearing

As conservative fundraisers Richard Viguerie and David Franke pointed out, the idea of being a conservative is to preserve what is best from the past. That was the point that Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the January 6, 2021, Committee, made in his opening statement on June 9, 2022. speaking in a calm, quiet voice, Thompson reminded the United States that we had a long-standing history of peaceful transfer of power—until 2016, when Republican President Donald Trump cited transparently bogus claims that the election had been stolen, leading to a riot in the Capitol to stop the counting of electoral votes. Thompson did not merely make good arguments: he used the conservative movement's top moral premise against them. He showed that Donald Trump had broken with tradition. This was not merely a factual speech: Thompson drove a stake through the heart of the Republican Party’s central value system.

Yes, tradition should be a conservative’s strong point. Ironically, it was the liberal Representative Thompson who cited tradition. He especially emphasized the tradition set by Abraham Lincoln. Thompson reminded us that the first Republican president insisted on a peaceful transition, even in the dire circumstances of the Civil War. Indeed, Thompson literally turned the Republican Party's entire history against them. Nevertheless, we all needed to hear it.

First, Thompson reminded us that, although Lincoln expected to lose the 1864 election, Thompson's speech insisted on respecting the voters’ judgment. Thompson explained:

“Thinking back again to the Civil War, in the summer of 1864, the President of the United States believed he would be a doomed bid for reelection. He believed his opponent, General George McClellan, would wave the white flag when it came to preserving the Union. But even with that grim fate hanging in the balance, President Lincoln was ready to accept the will of the voters, come what may.”

Next, Thompson explained that Lincoln considered that it was his duty, his solemn responsibility, to turn the White House over to the next president and to cooperate with the next president during the transition:

“He made a quiet pledge.

“He wrote down the words, ‘This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. And it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President elect.’ ‘It will be my duty.’”

Thompson’s story did not stop there. He showed that Lincoln made no empty promise to accept the election. Instead, Thompson explained, Lincoln asked his top advisors to make the same pledge:

“Lincoln sealed that memo and asked his cabinet secretaries to sign it, sight unseen. He asked them to make the same commitment he did. To accept defeat if indeed defeat was the will of the people. To uphold the rule of law. To do what every President who came before him did… and what every President who followed him would do. Until Donald Trump.”

“Until Donald Trump:” an unbroken line of presidents willingly accepted the people’s will, until Donald Trump came along with his transparent lies and nonsensical conspiracy theories to inspire a revolt against the constitutional process.

With that, Thompson had come full circle. He had reminded his audience that tradition required presidents to follow the constitutional and legal processes. He demonstrated, beyond any possible dispute, that it was a Republican president who broke the tradition. He used the Republicans’ premise against them: the principal contention of republican politicians and voters is that they, and they alone, stand for the nation's traditions. Thompson demonstrated that, in contrast, it was the Republican Party who had abandoned tradition. They and the former president refused to follow Lincoln's example.

This was the debate technique called “turning the tables.” That is, Thompson took the Republicans’ own premise, which was the importance of tradition, and use it to condemn President Trump's actions. What were the Republicans going to do? Were they going to tell Thompson that he was wrong, and the tradition should be ignored? Of course not! How could any conservative say that tradition is bad? To argue with Thompson, a Republican would need to repudiate the very idea of conservativism.

To date, Republicans have protested that the hearings are a distraction from pressing issues like gasoline prices or that it is a witch hunt. what they cannot do—what they cannot possibly do—is to argue with Chairman Thompson’s argument from tradition. He did not merely show that they were wrong. He quietly ripped away their entire philosophical foundation. Thompson’s speech was not flashy, but it was devastating.


PS: Was it absurd for Trump to say the election was stolen? Absolutely. As I finish this post, I am also watching the hearing’s second day, with Trump’s own advisors saying that they repeatedly told Trump that the claims were false and unsupported.

Image: US Congress