A bipartisan House panel probing Washington January 6, 2021 paints a damning portrait of a US president who sent an armed mob to the US Capitol in hopes of overturning a free and fair election and then did nothing for hours . He urged them to help suppress the violence.
But for Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters, who raged in their halls as a medieval-style battle at the Capitol, the horrific events of that day and Trump’s decision not to lift a finger to stop them, came at nothing. There is a big disturbance.
“What is he going to do? He told them not to go down and be destructive. What else are you going to do?” Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Tuesday. He said he felt “100%” confident about his vote to acquit the former president in the February 2021 impeachment trial.
“I’m fine with those decisions — they’re things you do with the information you have at the time,” said Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.).
According to testimony given to the House Select Committee investigating the holes around January 6, 2021, Trump ignored pleas from his children and close aides to condemn the violence at the Capitol and stood by hundreds of his supporters. urged to be Instead, the former president sat at his dining table at the White House and watched the disturbing events unfold on television. He didn’t call anyone to stop the riot — not the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, or the head of the Department of Homeland Security.
Hours after the riots began, Trump posted a video on his Twitter account urging his supporters to leave the Capitol. “We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a tremendous election and everyone knows it, but now you have to go home,” Trump said from the White House Rose Garden at 4:07 p.m. about a fake election, repeating his lie.
The attack resulted in many deaths and more than 140 police officers were injured. So far, more than 850 people have been alleged to be involved in the riots.
Trump is now flirting with another race for president, with GOP primary voters and almost the entire House Republican convention behind him. Most Republicans in the Senate shy away from questions about his conduct and will not condemn it, despite all the new information presented by investigators on January 6.
“I think we all knew – and knew – what happened. I don’t know how many minds have changed, because I think we knew the basic facts,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) Without going into detail on the facts.
Asked if he might support Trump in the 2024 presidential election, Cornyn shrugged off the question.
“I am focused on the mid-term elections; 2024 will be fine on its own. I think there is one person who will take this decision, and it is not me,” he said.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders say they stand by their argument that the Senate could not vote to remove Trump after he left office. The House voted to impeach Trump on January 13, 2021, but then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked a speedy impeachment trial in the Senate, instead putting the chamber on recess .
“What is he going to do? He told them not to go down and be destructive. What else are you going to do?”
— Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)
Trump’s impeachment trial at Capitol Riot began on February 9, 2021, under a Democratic majority, and ended with his acquittal on February 13. Seven Republican senators eventually voted to convict him despite the fact that he was no longer in office.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who is retiring this year, said the January 6 committee hearing “served a purpose.” But he said “the purpose of impeachment is to remove someone from office” and declined to comment when asked about Trump’s actions during the riots.
Asked if he regretted his vote to acquit Trump, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) quietly walked into the Senate elevator. He smiled as the door closed and took a sip of coffee, making no answer.
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), approached about the possibility of Trump running another presidential race, said that “Trump or someone else has to come. [to Iowa] And compete for it.”
Asked if he thought Trump was a fit for office, Grassley said, “I judge people by their policy.”
Trump delivered what was billed as a policy speech Tuesday in downtown Washington, about a mile from the US Capitol. This was his first visit to the nation’s capital after being removed from the presidency. Many congressional Republicans attended the event.
In his address, the former president repeated the same lies about the 2020 election that first sparked the Capitol riot on January 6. Addressing the 2024 race, Trump said that “we may have to do it all over again.”
Sen. Kevin Cramer (RN.D.) said he was not surprised by the rhetoric.
“I think it’s part of his strategy to inspire, perhaps, his next campaign – if he does,” he said.
“If he wants, he should,” Cramer said.
