Washington — Former President Donald Trump insisted that the Jan. 6 assault, when his supporters stormed the Capitol and assaulted scores of regulation enforcement officers, was not a day of violence, however a “day of affection” when “nothing” was “accomplished mistaken.”
The Republican presidential nominee was requested concerning the assault on the Capitol at a Univision city corridor on Wednesday, the place a voter who mentioned he was a registered Republican however was troubled by Trump’s habits throughout the riot mentioned the previous president might nonetheless win his vote.
“I wish to provide the alternative to attempt to win again my vote. OK?” mentioned the voter. “Your — I will say — motion and possibly inaction throughout your presidency, and the previous couple of years, form of, was a little bit disturbing to me. What occurred Jan. 6 and the truth that, , you waited so lengthy to take motion whereas your supporters had been attacking the Capitol. … I am curious how individuals so near you and your administration now not wish to help you, so why would I wish to help you? In case you would reply these questions for me I’d actually recognize it, and provide the alternative. , your individual vp would not wish to help you now.”
Trump responded by blasting former Vice President Mike Pence, saying he “completely disagreed with him on what he did,” an obvious reference to Pence’s refusal to reject the Electoral Faculty votes after the 2020 presidential election. Pence has repeatedly — and precisely — mentioned he had no constitutional authority to do something however settle for the outcomes, withstanding repeated assaults from Trump and Trump’s supporters.
Trump mentioned of his supporters who got here to Washington on Jan. 6, “They did not come due to me — they got here due to the election. They thought the election was a rigged election, and that is why they got here.”
However simply over two weeks earlier than Jan. 6, on Dec. 19, 2020, Trump had tweeted, “Large protest in D.C. on January sixth. Be there, can be wild!”
Trump went on to say a few of his supporters “went right down to the Capitol, I mentioned peacefully and patriotically. Nothing accomplished mistaken, in any respect, nothing accomplished mistaken. And motion was taken, sturdy motion. Ashli Babbitt was killed, no one was killed.
“There have been no weapons down there, we did not have weapons,” Trump continued. “The others had weapons, however we did not have weapons. And once I say we, these are those who walked down. This was a tiny share of the general, which no one sees and no one exhibits. However that was a day of affection from the standpoint of the tens of millions, it is like a whole bunch of 1000’s, it might have been the most important group I’ve ever spoken earlier than. They requested me to talk, I went, and I spoke. And I used the time period peacefully and patriotically.”
Trump’s portrayal of Jan. 6, which he typically repeats, bears little resemblance to the violent scene that performed out on the Capitol that day.
Greater than 1,000 individuals have been convicted within the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, and about 350 trials are nonetheless pending. Lots of of defendants have been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers or workers, together with over 100 individuals charged with utilizing a lethal or harmful weapon or inflicting severe bodily harm to an officer, based on the Justice Division’s figures from January 2024.
About 140 law enforcement officials had been assaulted on Jan. 6 — roughly 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Division. 4 individuals died on the Capitol that day, and one officer who was on responsibility throughout the riot died days later. 4 law enforcement officials who had been stationed on the Capitol on Jan. 6 died by suicide within the months that adopted.
Trump’s assertion that there have been no weapons in any respect is fake. Court docket paperwork, photographs and video present a number of rioters had firearms, along with different weapons like knives and bats. Others used flagpoles as weapons and pepper and bear spray.
The previous president did not handle the voter’s query about what he was doing on Jan. 6 whereas the rioters started their march on the Capitol and breached the constructing.
A wall of Trump’s supporters arrived on the Capitol at 12:45 p.m. on Jan. 6, having marched throughout the Nationwide Mall after Trump addressed a crowd close to the White Home that morning. D.C. police declared a riot on the Capitol at 1:49 p.m., and the U.S. Capitol Police chief referred to as the D.C. Nationwide Guard commanding basic to request fast help. As rioters had been assaulting the Capitol, endangering members of Congress and Pence, Trump tweeted that “Mike Pence did not have the braveness to do what ought to have been accomplished to guard our Nation and our Structure.”
Shortly after 2:30 p.m., Trump tweeted, “Please help our Capitol Police and Legislation Enforcement. They’re actually on the facet of our Nation. Keep peaceable!” However at the moment, he didn’t urge his supporters to face down. It wasn’t till 4:17 p.m. that Trump on social media urged rioters to go house, whereas additionally falsely claiming the election had been “stolen.” He supplied no proof to again up his accusation.