When Aaron Rupar posts a clip, you already know the framing: strip context, isolate a soundbite, and spin it into an “Aha!” moment designed for retweets. His latest target? Vice President JD Vance, who dared to push back on Kaitlan Collins’ carefully laid trap on CNN.
KAITLAN COLLINS: So you agree that people who break in and vandalize a building should be prosecuted?
JD VANCE: Yes
COLLINS: Ok, I’m just checking, because you helped raise money for people who did so on January 6. (May 2024) @atrupar
pic.twitter.com/vUMBgvTMmr— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) September 1, 2025
The exchange was straightforward enough: Collins pressed Vance to defend Trump supporters accused of breaking into and vandalizing buildings on January 6. The “gotcha” was obvious. If he defended them, he’d look like an apologist for “insurrection.” If he didn’t, he’d risk alienating a base that sees January 6 less as an uprising and more as a protest that spiraled. Either way, Collins wins the clip.
What equipment did they use to break open the magnetically sealed 2 ton bronze doors? Who got charged with breaking and entering?
— Mike Merc (@mikemerc57) September 2, 2025
Except she doesn’t. Because the broader narrative won’t hold.
Take the famous example of Rep. Andy Kim, who became a media darling for “cleaning up” after January 6 — his dusty blue suit later enshrined in the Smithsonian as though he’d mopped up Omaha Beach. Never mind that this same establishment applauded organizations like the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which poured cash into bailing out rioters during the BLM protests — rioters who later committed murders, sexual assaults, and opened fire on police officers. Those weren’t called “insurrections.” They were “mostly peaceful.”
Try to keep up @kaitlancollins . There is video of some security opening the doors for them .
— Nancy Serot (@rivercitywoman) September 2, 2025
Or consider Jacob Chansley, the so-called “QAnon Shaman.” His painted face and horned hat made him the perfect symbol for Democrats and the media to weaponize. He was paraded across headlines as the face of domestic terrorism. But later, security footage showed Capitol Police calmly escorting him through the halls. No smashed doors, no physical altercations — just a bizarre man in a bizarre costume wandering the Capitol. For that, he got 41 months in prison.
Sorry it’s not breaking in when they open the doors for you and wave and welcome you in.
— PCBFLA (@garypcbfl) September 2, 2025
Here’s the point Vance was making — and what Rupar desperately tried to bury: the justice system has been applied unevenly. When it’s left-wing protesters torching businesses, attacking officers, and laying waste to neighborhoods, they’re bailed out, celebrated, even canonized. When it’s Trump supporters, even non-violent ones, the hammer drops with maximum force.
