Five years after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Democrats marked the day but made clear it will not serve as the centerpiece of their 2026 midterm messaging.
Democratic strategists say the approach reflects a recalibration driven by voter priorities rather than any diminished view of the day’s significance, as inflation, housing costs, and broader affordability concerns continue to dominate the political landscape.
During the 2024 campaign, Democrats warned that American democracy was under threat, using the Jan. 6 attack as a central example within a broader argument. That message peaked days before the election when Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at The Ellipse. Party leaders now acknowledge it failed to cut through with voters focused on economic pressures.
A Democratic operative, speaking on the condition of anonymity to reflect candidly on the party’s strategy, said the experience forced a reassessment.
“No one is trying to minimize how horrific January 6 was,” the operative said. “But the reality is that the democracy-threat messaging Democrats leaned into during the 2024 cycle did not break through with a majority of voters. Relying on it so heavily was a mistake, and I think the party has taken some hard lessons from that.”
After a difficult 2024 cycle, Democrats are signaling a shift in how they plan to deploy Jan. 6, folding the riot, Republican efforts to downplay it, and President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardons of most Jan. 6 defendants into a broader argument about corruption and the aggressive use of presidential power. That reframing comes after Trump faced bipartisan backlash following the attack, including a second impeachment by the House that ultimately fell short in the Senate, as well as a federal criminal prosecution tied to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election that later collapsed.
Even so, officials say that economic pressures, including the cost of living and the looming expiration of healthcare subsidies, will remain central to their effort to reclaim the House.
Democratic strategist and pollster Brad Bannon said the shift is grounded in voter data, which shows economic anxiety has consistently outweighed democracy-focused appeals.
“If you look at the national polls, the economy and inflation in particular are clearly the biggest voter concern,” Bannon said. He pointed to Trump’s repeated 2024 campaign promise to lower prices on the first day of his second term, a pledge voters increasingly believe he has failed to deliver.
“You can’t ignore an anniversary like the first and only time in American history where a president mounted a coup to stay in office,” Bannon said. “But tomorrow we move back to job one, which is the economy.”
Josh Marcus-Blank, a Democratic strategist advising campaigns, said Jan. 6 continues to matter politically in some contests but is far from a universal motivator.
“Whether January 6 resonates politically often depends on who is on the ballot and the local context,” Marcus-Blank said, arguing that the issue carries the most weight in races where it reinforces broader contrasts with Republican opponents.
That balance was visible Tuesday as Democratic leaders marked the anniversary with floor speeches and a House hearing. House Democrats convened an unofficial, three-panel hearing Tuesday to mark the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Separately, Senate Democrats delivered coordinated floor speeches condemning the violence and criticizing efforts to downplay its significance.
Speaking at the House Democrats’ hearing, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) accused Trump and his allies of trying to erase the gravity of the attack.
“Over the last five years, instead of holding those responsible for the attack accountable, Donald Trump and far-right extremists in Congress have repeatedly attempted to rewrite history and whitewash the horrific events of January 6th,” Jeffries said. “We will not let that happen.”
In a letter to colleagues last week, Jeffries also tied the anniversary to economic concerns, noting that instead of delivering on promises to lower costs, Trump “issued blanket pardons and commutations to the nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the January 6th attack, including hundreds of violent felons who brutally assaulted law enforcement officers.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) echoed that framing, linking Trump’s actions to what Democrats argue is a broader pattern of chaos and broken promises.
“What was Donald Trump’s first official action while in office?” Schumer said. “His betrayal of law enforcement and of democracy makes a mockery of the rule of law.”
Trump, meanwhile, addressed the anniversary only briefly. In an 82-minute speech to House Republicans, he mentioned Jan. 6 in passing, attacking the congressional investigation into the attack and criticizing media coverage of the events.
Outside the Capitol, roughly 150 Trump supporters marched and sang patriotic songs, trading insults with counterprotesters. The event was organized by Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader who was sentenced to 24 years in prison for helping plan the attack and later pardoned by Trump, along with more than 1,500 other Jan. 6 defendants.
Strategists said those scenes underscore how Democrats intend to handle Jan. 6 moving forward: mark it clearly, draw contrast where relevant, and then pivot back to the economic issues that dominate voter priorities.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM DEMOCRATS’ HEARING ON JAN. 6 ANNIVERSARY
“I think it would be a tremendous disservice to American democracy if Democrats ignored what happened on this day,” Bannon said. “But as long as they pivot back quickly to the economy, they’ll be speaking to what voters care about most.”