President Trump has issued pardons or commutations for over 1,500 defendants from January 6. In spite of Trump having mentioned he used to be going to do it, the verdict is inflicting surprise, outrage, and depression. And I imagine the verdict could also be inflicting an exceptional quantity of cognitive dissonance in many people, together with Trump and people who have supported him.
Cognitive dissonance refers to a mental discomfort skilled when stuck in an inconsistency. It’s a sense of hypocrisy not unusual in politics (Stalder, 2020). The inconsistency in query is how President Trump used to be ready to continue with the pardons when he represents the “celebration of regulation and order” and publicly promised that he would “all the time again the blue” (Kaste, 2024).
Most of the president’s longtime supporters, whether or not they’re politicians, law enforcement officials, or on a regular basis citizens, additionally self-identify as pro-police. So that they will have to be feeling some stage of dissonance of their enhance for a pace-setter who pardoned or freed those that assaulted law enforcement officials, resulting in severe accidents and suicides.
Modes of Dissonance Relief
Cognitive dissonance examine has known a large number of ways in which other people stuck on this uncomfortable state of affairs can attempt to cut back the discomfort (McGrath, 2017). Many of those constitute cognitive biases of a few sort, even though there are impartial tactics to take on dissonance as neatly (Stalder, 2018). Within the aftermath of President Trump’s pardons, there was an abundance of illustrations of those modes of dissonance relief. I spotlight a number of.
Social Comparability: Many of us have answered to queries about Trump’s pardons by means of pointing to Joe Biden’s pardons. Even though that comparability turns out a false equivalency, discovering others who behaved in a similar fashion, or claiming that others behaved in a similar fashion, can cut back dissonance (Stalder and Devine, 2002; Stalder, 2012).
Exterior Justification (or Explanation): One of the crucial vintage tactics to cut back dissonance is to make excuses for the perceived dangerous habits. For instance, Trump has cited a number of exterior elements for his choice, together with jail prerequisites and sentences he felt have been over the top (Doyle, 2025; Wendling, 2025).
Trivialization: Conveying that the January 6 rise up used to be no longer as giant a deal as liberals suppose is an instance of trivialization, which is able to additionally come with the declare that the rioters’ sentences have been too excessive. Some politicians have downplayed the tragic occasions by means of announcing issues love it’s time to seem “on the long run, no longer the previous” (Jimison, 2025).
Distorting Perceptions: Some downplaying can slide into any other vintage mode the place there are adjustments in perceptions of a few a part of the dissonant state of affairs. A not unusual instance is misremembering or distorting the occasions of January 6, what many discuss with as a collective GOP “amnesia” (Barabak and Chabria, 2024).
Perspective Bolstering: A lesser-known mode is to strengthen the perspective this is inconsistent with the dangerous habits (Sherman and Gorkin, 1980). The “again the blue” perspective is dissonant with Trump’s pardons, so some supporters have strongly asserted how “again the blue” they nonetheless are, equivalent to Senator Thom Tillis, who answered to a question in regards to the pardons by means of announcing he used to be pushing regulation to extend consequences for assaulting an officer (Jimison, 2025).
Cognitive Dissonance Very important Reads
Perspective Exchange: Any other vintage mode comes to a metamorphosis in perspective, which has been observed in those that have sponsored down from complete enhance for Trump. Some high-profile Trump supporters have disagreed with the pardons (Fox, 2025). A Trump-endorsing police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, has additionally expressed discouragement in regards to the state of affairs (Habeshian, 2025).
Denial of Accountability: Some have answered to queries in regards to the pardons by means of announcing it used to be no longer them however fairly the president who made the verdict (Wong et al., 2025). That’s without a doubt true, and saying it’s but any other research-based mode of dissonance relief.
Ready It Out: Many of us are dodging the query or are maintaining quiet about the problem (Fox, 2025). It’s a wait-and-see way, necessarily kicking the cognitive can down the street.
More than one-Mode Way
Many examine research center of attention on, or handiest give individuals the danger to make use of, a unmarried mode of dissonance relief. In real-life dissonance, there is usually a multiple-mode defensiveness wherein folks cycle thru many various responses.
Senator Susan Collins criticized President Trump’s choice but in addition when compared it to Joe Biden’s circle of relatives pardons (Wong et al., 2025). The Fraternal Order of Police in a similar fashion criticized Trump’s choice whilst similarly criticizing Biden on the similar time (Habeshian, 2025). The present Capitol Police leader displayed 3 modes: criticizing Trump, praising police, and criticizing Biden (Yilek, 2025). By means of a number of accounts, Trump himself seems to have rationalized, trivialized, distorted, reinforced his pro-police place, and criticized Biden (Doyle, 2025; Fox, 2025).
In Equity to People
I don’t wish to stereotype or make blanket statements about Trump supporters and even all the ones convicted from January 6. There are, after all, person variations amongst them, and I will not learn the minds of even the ones I’ve quoted on this article, together with President Trump.
No longer everybody who helps each Trump and the police is essentially feeling the similar stage of dissonance. Maximum of the ones arrested and convicted didn’t bodily attack police. It’s no longer unfair to indicate that some rioters were given swept up within the crowd, even though it can’t excuse what came about.
In case it is helping the ones in depression who’re feeling a scarcity of justice, it may be identified that many of the pardoned folks had already served their sentences or had no longer won prison time, leaving about 250 launched from jail (Wendling, 2025). After all, it’s at the same time as true that the convictions of the ones pardoned might be wiped from the document, and 250 continues to be so much.
In Sum
“Dissonance” isn’t a filthy phrase. Lifestyles is just too sophisticated for us to be completely constant at all times. Feeling dissonance is commonplace, and politics is difficult. Each Democrats and Republicans are at risk of dissonance when their chief violates a central celebration norm.
However that doesn’t imply that dissonant behaviors are applicable nor that each and every mode of dissonance relief is similarly optimistic. Being acutely aware of dissonance processes can assist us make a choice the most efficient mode of relief for ourselves and would possibly assist us higher review politicians’ responses all the way through tricky instances like now.
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