Poll: Percent of Those Blaming Trump for Jan. 6 Falls to Minority

The percentage of those who believe that former President Donald Trump was responsible for the Capitol riot has fallen to a minority of the public after more than half held that he was responsible immediately following the events of Jan. 6, 2021, according to poll released Monday by NBC.

When asked about the protests that led to rioters overtaking the U.S. Capitol, only 45% said that Trump was "solely" or "mainly" responsible for them, in comparison to 52% who felt that way in the days following the attack.

Other results from the survey include:

• About 17% say that the former president is "solely responsible" for the riots, while 28% say he is "mainly responsible" for a combined 45%. Last year those numbers were 28% and 24%, respectively for a combined 52%.
• The poll showed that 20% consider Trump "only somewhat responsible" for the attack on the Capitol, while 35% said he is "not really responsible" for a combined 55%. Last year those numbers were 18% and 29%, respectively, for a combined 47%.

The poll interviewed 1,000 adults between May 5-7 and 9-10. The survey's margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The poll appears as the House Jan. 6 select committee prepares to hold its first public hearing Thursday, the Washington Examiner reported.

The panel is planning to hold six to eight hearings this month, with committee Chairman Bennie Thompson stating that "the public needs to know, needs to hear from people under oath about what led up to Jan. 6 and, to some degree, what has continued after Jan. 6."

Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, heads the panel, which has six additional members of his party, as well as two Republicans: Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

The two Republicans on the committee broke with party leadership after the GOP decided to boycott the panel.

Cheney told CBS News' "Sunday Morning" that the testimony the committee has heard so far since its establishment has been "really chilling," adding that "I have not learned anything that has made me less concerned."

Cheney added, "We are thankfully not at a moment of civil war, but we are certainly at a time of testing," adding that "we are absolutely in a moment where we have to make a decision about whether we're going to put our love of this country above partisanship. And to me, there's just, there's no gray area in that question."

• Jan. 6 Panel Readies for Prime-Time Hearings
• Rep. McCarthy Charges Jan. 6 Committee Going 'Beyond Its Legislative Scope'