A brand new board game is being released this weekend to mark the three year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riots in Washington DC.
The right-wing podcast TrueAnon has created the game “Storm the Capitol – TrueAnon Edition” where players can “relive one of the funniest days in American history!”
Despite the day not being particularly funny for the Capitol staff and law enforcement officers who were faced with an angry mob of far-right activists and Donald Trump supporters seeking to overturn American democracy, the game celebrates the violence of the day – with players able to pretend they are “battling” their way through the Capitol building.
Players take on the role of a “Patriot” and try to “collect ballots, take hostages and fight the police” in a re-enactment of the riots.
Other players can take on the role of the Capitol police, aiming to stop the so-called “Patriots” from getting to the roof with enough ballots to “Stop the Steal”.
The game comes with cards such as Capitol police attack dogs, which leads to a “Patriot” losing points.
Players can gain points by stealing “AOC’s shoes” or “Pelosi’s laptop”.
At the end of the game, if the “Patriots” win, former president Donald Trump will be waiting to take them in his helicopter to change the results of the 2020 election, according to the game.
If the police win, President Joe Biden will be victorious.
The controversial game is being sold exclusively for $64.99 on the far-right podcast’s merchandise website and will be released on 6 January.
In a podcast episode announcing the game’s release, the host Brace Belden recalled seeing the riots covered in the news, saying it was “the best day of watching TV I’ve ever had in my life”.
He also falsely claimed about those who died that day that “most of them died from being too excited”.
Fellow podcast host, Liz Franczak, boasted about how fun the game is, calling it a “riot of a time”.
The hosts even went so far as to humbly say the board came could “heal the nation,” putting their product up with the invention of the wheel or the discovery of fire.
The podcast hosts wrote on X that they hope the game will bring back the “amazing feeling” felt on 6 January 2021.
The TrueAnon hosts claim the game is designed for everybody in America on “every single side of every single political issue” – as long, of course, that you are comfortable attacking police, taking hostages and upending democracy.
Over a thousand rioters have so far been arrested for their parts in that deadly day, with many being handed long prison sentences.
99.9% of the Independent’s readership has never once heard of TrueAnon, has no idea who Brace Belden is, and is utterly clueless regarding his politics or the politics of the podcast. Calling this a “right wing podcast” while linking it to a funny board game can only be good publicity.