Hey, it's Michael O'Henger, and you're listening to the On the Media Podcast Extra.

This Monday marked four years since a violent mob of Trump supporters attempted to stop certification of the 2020 election.

Shortly after January 6th, 2021, 51% of respondents told CBS and UGov that they strongly disapproved of those who forced their

way into the Capitol. As of last month, that number has dropped down to 30%, nearly 20 points down.

The same poll found that 72% of Republicans now support pardons for the rioters.

The softening and even celebration of that day comes after a sustained effort from Donald Trump and his allies. Countless truth social posts, interviews, and campaign rallies aimed at

distorting and rewriting the past. Dan Barry is a senior writer at the New York Times and co-author of the recent article,

A Day of Love, how Trump inverted the violent history of January 6th.

Barry said while reflecting on a second Trump inauguration,

how he pictured not just a return to the White House,

but a reemergence of the 45th president at the Capitol itself,

where so much violence happened in his name four years ago.

When he comes down the steps, he'll be walking down a blue carpet

that struck me as carpet that will now be covering over a crime scene.

And I think the ghosts of January 6th will be all around him. And I find that quite evocative and a reminder of how

perilously close we came to this orderly transfer of being disrupted. So let's walk through how we got here.

Four years ago, we saw Trump give a speech near the White House.

After repeating the lie that the election had been stolen,

he told the crowd to, quote,

peacefully and patriotically march to the Capitol,

but added, quote, we fight like hell.

And we all remember what happened next.

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