Whites FOUR TIMES More Likely Than Black People to Say Capitol Insurrection Getting ‘Too Much Attention’

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White people are four times more likely than Black people to say that the January 6 Capitol insurrection is receiving “too much attention” in a poll that reveals stark polarization over the deadly assault by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

A new poll from the Pew Research Center shows some encouraging unity among Americans over the insurrection on some questions, less on others. For example, 87 percent of respondents say it is important to prosecute the participants, including 79 percent of Republican-leaning voters and 95 percent of Democrats.

But drilling down, only 50 percent of Republicans say it’s “very important,” versus 95 percent of Democrats.

And there’s an even sharper divide on the question of whether the insurrection is getting the right amount of attention. From Pew:

While a plurality of Americans (44%) say the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and its impacts have been getting about the right amount of attention overall, there also are significant differences in these views among Republicans and Democrats.

Many Republicans say the Jan. 6 riots and their aftermath have been getting too much attention (54% say this), which is not a widely shared view among Democrats (8% say too much). By contrast, 40% of Democrats say the riot has been getting too little attention; just 11% of Republicans say the same. About half of Democrats (52%) and a third of Republicans say the riots have gotten about the right amount of attention.

But there’s another stark divide. Among Black adults, only 8 percent say the insurrection is getting “too much attention,” versus 34 percent of whites who say the same — more than four times as many.

That gulf contributes greatly to the partisan divide as well, with only 8 percent of Democrats saying the insurrection got too much attention versus 54 Republicans who say this. Both divides were illustrated this week by the comments of Republican Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, who said he was not worried about the Trump fans who stormed the Capitol, but would have been had they been members of Black Lives Matter or Antifa.