The White House launched a controversial new website Tuesday dedicated to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, sparking immediate backlash from critics who say it attempts to rewrite history of that day’s events. The site, hosted on an official government domain (whitehouse.gov/j6), presents a dramatically different narrative from what has been extensively documented about the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The website conspicuously omits key facts about former President Donald Trump’s role in the events leading up to and during the riot. There is little mention of Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent—claims that have been rejected by dozens of courts and election officials from both parties. The site also fails to address how Trump’s rhetoric inspired the rioters or how he further inflamed tensions by criticizing then-Vice President Mike Pence during the attack.

Instead, the website shifts blame to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Capitol Police, and both Democrats and Republicans who criticized Trump. In a particularly controversial claim, it suggests that law enforcement caused the violence through “aggressive” and “provocative tactics” that “escalated tensions” with protesters.

This characterization directly contradicts the extensive video evidence from that day, including footage captured by the rioters themselves. Numerous investigations, court proceedings, and firsthand accounts have established that many participants engaged in violent behavior, attacking police officers and forcibly breaking into the Capitol building.

Among the site’s most disputed claims is the characterization of the rioters as “peaceful,” the assertion that Vice President Pence had the constitutional authority to reject Electoral College votes, and the description of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot while attempting to breach a barricaded door inside the Capitol, as having been “murdered in cold blood.” The site also continues to promote the thoroughly debunked claim that the 2020 election was “stolen.”

The extensive documentation of January 6—from security camera footage to social media posts to police body cameras—makes it perhaps one of the most thoroughly recorded events in recent history. This wealth of evidence directly contradicts many of the website’s claims.

CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale called it “a truly bananas up-is-down fake-history web page,” while numerous commentators expressed alarm that such content was published on an official government website.

The website’s launch comes as the January 6 events remain a divisive political issue. Over 1,200 people have been charged with crimes related to the Capitol breach, with hundreds receiving prison sentences. Multiple investigations, including by a House select committee, concluded that Trump played a central role in what they characterized as an attempt to overturn legitimate election results.

The use of an official White House platform to present this alternative narrative has raised concerns about the government’s role in communicating factual information to the public. Critics argue that hosting such content on a .gov domain gives it an air of legitimacy that could mislead citizens about established historical facts.

The controversy highlights ongoing tensions about how the events of January 6 will be remembered and understood by the American public. While some view the riot as a dangerous assault on democratic institutions, others have increasingly embraced narratives that downplay the violence or recast the participants as victims.

Political communication experts note that control over historical narratives has significant implications for future elections and policy debates, making the content of official government websites a matter of particular public interest.