For those who always despised him, feel betrayed by him, or fear his return to power, today is about remembering — never forgetting — Donald Trump's lowest point as president: the day he incited a mob to attack Congress while it affirmed Joe Biden's clear victory, the final desperate move in a plot to overthrow an American presidential election.

For those who love him, merely tolerate him, or crave his return to the White House, today is a media stunt: a contrived anniversary of an insignificant event boosted by Democrats and the press to punish Republicans and cynically advance Biden’s legislative priorities. 

Americans often have a shared understanding about big traumatic national events. That is not the case with Jan. 6, which is why the cliché about our politics feeling like a civil war has more and more resonance. 

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
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