The conservative website made the moves after drawing condemnation for the opinion piece downplaying Wednesday’s Capitol riot
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Conservative website RedState on Monday retracted and apologized for an op-ed titled, “Enough! There Was No Riot, Insurrection or ‘Storming!’”
“Overnight, this article about January 6th was published,” says the website where the article by Mike Ford once existed. “Many details, opinions, and analysis contained in the piece were either incorrect or inappropriate. It has been retracted and we regret its publication.”
The headline says, “[Redacted].”
A representative for RedState did not immediately reply to a request for clarification on what time the redaction happened.
On Wednesday, protesters who were demonstrating in support of President Donald Trump and his attempts to overturn the election breached the Capitol, sending lawmakers into lockdown and postponing the certification of President-elect Joe Biden. Four attendees died, as did one Capitol police officer. Another officer who was on duty at the time died of an apparent suicide over the weekend, bringing the total of associated deaths to six.
The author of the RedState piece, Mike Ford, declined to comment on the grounds it’s not his policy to “badmouth [his] own team because of an internal disagreement.” On Twitter, he wrote he was “laughing [himself] silly” as users wrote to him about the redaction.
The piece was widely lambasted on Twitter throughout the day Monday. CNN’s Jake Tapper posted a screenshot of the headline and quoted George Orwell’s “1984” along with it: “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
“Absolutely wild lies. We all saw it with our own eyes!” wrote The Atlantic’s David Graham.
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