As Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi picks members of a select committee to investigate the riots of January 6, a new poll finds that many Americans believe she’s focusing on the wrong riots.
One-third more Americans believe Congress should hold investigative hearings about last summer’s “Black Lives Matter protests that sparked violence” than think lawmakers ought to probe the riot at the capitol on January 6.
In all, two out of three likely U.S. voters say they believe Congress should open an official investigation into “the violent protests” which blazed a trail of arson and looting through major and mid-sized cities nationwide. On the other hand, fewer than half (49%) of Americans support Pelosi’s investigation of the D.C. riot in which rioters protesting the 2020 presidential election results stormed the capitol.
Support for a federal inquiry into the riots that engulfed U.S. cities after the death of George Floyd cut deep across racial and political lines. “Sixty-seven percent (67%) of whites, 64% of black voters, 66% of Hispanics and 62% of other minorities think Congress should investigate the 2020 riots in U.S. cities,” reported Rasmussen Reports. “Seventy-five percent (75%) of Republicans, 60% of Democrats and 63% of voters not affiliated with either major party say Congress should investigate last year’s violent protests.”
The Speaker’s controversial select committee stands on shakier ground. Americans were almost evenly divided on whether members of Congress should launch another examination of the Capitol riot, which Pelosi and her fellow Democrats label an “insurrection”: 42% of respondents told pollsters that the event does not merit a national inquest, with 49% in favor. By contrast, only 21% of Americans said Congress should not investigate the riots surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement.
