By Robert Weiner and Lily Roberti
George Orwell warned that manipulating language is the first step to controlling truth. The White House's recently-published, revised Jan. 6th website demonstrates how that concept threatens the American public in 2026. This site poses a clear and present danger to accurate perception of the violent insurrection- its contents mirror Orwellian doublespeak, reframing perpetrators as victims and legitimizing a false narrative about Jan. 6th by erasing unsavory facts.
Doublespeak, as outlined in "1984," is language designed to deceive, manipulate, and avoid accountability through ambiguity. In the novel, the Party uses slogans like "War is Peace," illustrating how doublespeak relies on authority to make lies sound official and credible. The Trump Administration uses this tactic, misrepresenting the grave reality of Jan. 6 and its resulting consequences in a way eerily similar to the authoritarian regime of Big Brother. The contents of their website contradict reality and use euphemisms that make brutality appear acceptable.
One example of this is the minimizing of death and violence- the website's claim that "zero law enforcement officers lost their lives" is not only false but also a gross oversimplification of the damage caused by Jan. 6th. This claim comes directly after the site's strategic wording of "unarmed Air Force Veteran and Trump Supporter" Ashli Babbitt's death, humanizing loss on the side that the administration wants us to sympathize with. The fact is that Officer Brian Sicknick died the night after being assaulted by rioters, as a result of the attack. Additionally, 140 officers were injured and will undoubtedly suffer long-term trauma. In the administration's intentional language, death becomes nonexistent and violence on both sides is either emphasized or diminished to their advantage.
Another Orwellian tactic seen here is the reversal of guilt- the site blames Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House at the time, for security failures. It claims that Pelosi admitted "catastrophic failure to pre-position National Guard troops," portraying Trump as persecuted rather than responsible.
"I saw on TV that he was claiming that we didn't ask for the National Guard " For over three hours, we begged him to send the National Guard. He never did it. He took joy in not doing it," Pelosi said at a House event. In the administration's choice to condemn her, a critic becomes an enemy of the state, and the powerful claim of victimhood is reserved for Trump.
Repeated falsehoods function as doublespeak, like claims that the election was stolen and also that Mike Pence, the then-current Vice President, chose not to return disputed electoral slates to state legislatures for review "in an act of cowardice and sabotage." The website repeatedly uses certainty and moral language to turn lies into perceived truth. To act differently than he did would have been unconstitutional, Pence said, and the reality of the threats against him rendered it necessary for him to be evacuated from the Senate floor at the time of the attack.
"The website put out by the Trump White House on the anniversary of the January 6th attack is nothing more than a pack of lies," said Congressman Hank Johnson (GA) at the hearing examining former Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigations into Trump's role in the insurrection. Orwell warned that democracy cannot survive when the truth is malleable, and this government website gives doublespeak legitimacy. It is crucial to remember facts, question language, and resist historical erasure- when the past is rewritten, the future becomes easier to control.
Robert Weiner is a former spokesman for the Clinton and Bush White Houses and for the House Government Operations and Judiciary Committees under Chairman John Conyers. He was also Senior Aide to Reps. Claude Pepper, John Conyers, Charles Rangel, Ed Koch and Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Lily Roberti is a Policy & Research Analyst at Robert Weiner Associates and the Solutions for Change Foundation and a student at Arcadia University.
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