Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz tried to get Trump’s help on Jan. 6. He didn’t give them.

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Former President Donald Trump was the toughest Republican loyalist in the House who spent several months downplaying the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. But we also know now that many of them are scared of people who support Trump and desperately appeal to the president for help.

Id said many of them are still scared. They feared that the betrayal of their once and future king would bring back to them the eyes of the mob. They were afraid of what would happen to their jobs and power if that happened. And that fear blinded them to the actual danger enabled by their inaction and silence.

They feared that the betrayal of their once and future king would bring back to them the eyes of the mob. They were afraid of what would happen to their jobs and power if that happened.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, reluctantly confirmed to Fox News in late July that he spoke with Trump on Jan. 6 but declined to provide details. He followed up two days later with an interview in which Spectrum News asked him if he had spoken to Trump before, during, or after the Capitol attack.

Uh, Id have to go, Id, I, I, talked to him that day then, I think then. I don’t know if I talked to him in the morning or not, Jordan replied, according to a translation from Talking Points Memos by Josh Marshall.

Sunday, we learned not only that Jordan spoke to Trump several times on Jan. 6, but there was also at least one call that occurred while the mob was in the middle of its attack. Jordan told Politico Playbooks Olivia Beavers that he was sure he was in the safe room where members of Congress shepherd after breaking the police line on the president’s call.

A source also told Politico that Jordan placed at least one call urging Trump to tell his supporters to stand while with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Another Trump arch-loyalist. Jordan could not confirm the details of his call (s) but said that like everyone, he wanted the National Guard to engage.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Was busy trying to do the same on Jan. 6. When McCarthy called for help against the rioters, he made it clear that Trump supporters were attacking . The former president replied, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” said Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash.

So when pro-Trump hordes literally knocked on their doors, all of McCarthy, Jordan and Gaetz turned to Trump for help and protection he never sent. The message from Trump was probably received loud and clear: If my people are going for you, I won’t stop them.

With warning signs in their heads, this same Republican went on to put plebeians still giving brutality to his base of power.

Gaetz tried to throw the accused people up to political prisoners being tortured in federal custody. McCarthy is backwards sharply from his criticism of Trump that he should have the calves of a Peloton instructor. And over-reaching Jordan has really found a way to blame the attack on Democrats for kind of normalizing chaos, normalizing theft, normalizing anarchy, in the summer of 2020.

The message from Trump was probably received loud and clear: If my people are going for you, I won’t stop them.

All three know winning control of the House next year and not to mention protecting their phony-baloney jobs would be impossible if Trump supporters don’t come out to the polls in the midterms. In defense of that goal, they led the removal of Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., And removing her from the House GOP leadership for daring to blame Trump for the unrest. They know that if they do the same, other diehard parties will be next for them.

And the truth will surely come out one way or another, no matter how much they try to cover up the fear they felt in January. The Jan. 6 House investigation committee will likely subpoena Jordan and McCarthy as witnesses to describe their interaction with Trump in the lead up to and during the uprising.

Tech and telecom companies were asked to keep records associated with the attack, which may have involved calls made to and from Congress that day. We don’t need transcripts of calls for information obtained from them to be damn good. Even the timestamps for calls to and from the White House that day should be fascinating how many GOP lawmakers ignored Trump while their lives were in danger? Not surprisingly, McCarthy openly threatened tech companies helping the Democrat -led investigation with retaliation should the GOP regain the majority.

I don’t want to embarrass lawmakers for feeling intimidated in the face of human danger. But letting the same fear rule them now, when the threat to their careers than their lives, is more cowardly. It remains to be seen how these men respond directly to face their cowardice but I get the feeling that we already know the answer to this.

Hayes Brown is a writer and editor for MSNBC Daily, where he helps frame the day’s news for readers. He was previously at BuzzFeed News and graduated with a degree in international relations from Michigan State University.

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