In the thirty years since the Oklahoma City bombing, the country took an extraordinary journey " from nearly universal horror at the action of a right-wing extremist [McVeigh] to wide embrace of a president who reflected the bomber's values. Toobin draws ominous parallels between his subject's political motivations, and the values and views of the January 6 insurrectionists. Like McVeigh, the rioters who stormed the Capitol saw "the rebellion" as akin to the revolutionary struggle of the Founding Fathers. They, too, believed violence was necessary to achieve their goals. In this way, Toobin argues, McVeigh represents an early prototype of the aggrieved Trump voter. The actions of McVeigh and some Trump supporters belong to "a long tradition of gun-obsessed, antidemocratic, violence-fueled extremism".