At Issue: Jan. 2 — 2021 Year in Review

This week on "At Issue," we take a look back at 2021 and the year in Minnesota politics.

The year started with an unruly and violent mess in the nation’s capital as mobs of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol building after they were convinced the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump. So far the Justice Department has charged eight Minnesotans for their participation in the insurrection.

A vaccine program unlike anything in the nation’s history rolled out early last year, opening the door to relaxed COVID-19 restrictions and promises of a return to normalcy. But the rise of the more contagious delta and omicron variants set much of the world on pace for record infections by the year’s end.

Minnesota troops were among the last on the ground in America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan, just before the country marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

Former vice president, U.S. senator and presidential hopeful Walter Mondale passed away. He left his mark on Minnesota politics and paved the way for the state’s liberal tradition.