During an interview on “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” on Fox News, former President Donald Trump praised his followers who attended the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the insurrection at the Capitol, repeatedly using the word “love” to describe the tone of the event. He also called the insurrectionists “great people” who marched to the Capitol “peacefully.”
Trump told Bartiromo that the rally participants were patriots, that some of them were unjustly arrested and jailed, and that a woman who was shot and killed by law enforcement during the insurrection was a great hero.
He also said those who stormed the Capitol were loving people who wanted to save the nation.
“The crowd was unbelievable and I mentioned the word ‘love,’ the love in the air, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said of his rally. “That’s why they went to Washington.”
He added: “Too much spirit and faith and love, there was such love at that rally, you had over a million people,” inflating the size of his rally crowd.
After Trump’s speech, the Capitol was violently invaded by backers of his seeking to disrupt the Electoral College count. On the way in, they battled with police officers. According to the Department of Justice, 140 police officers were assaulted during the storming of the Capitol.
Hundreds of those who entered the Capitol have been charged with various crimes, including more than 50 who have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.
Trump and Bartiromo both expressed outrage over the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt within the Capitol, implying repeatedly that there was a cover-up at work. Babbitt was fatally shot as she tried to climb through a broken window during the insurrection.
“Who is the person that shot an innocent, wonderful, incredible woman, a military woman, right in the head?” Trump said. “There is no repercussion — that were on the other side, it would be the biggest story in this country. Who shot Ashli Babbitt? People want to know and why.”
Bartiromo then referred to Babbitt as “a wonderful woman fatally shot on January 6 as she tried to climb out of a broken window.” Their remarks echoed those of some of Trump’s backers, including Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), who has claimed Babbitt was “executed.”
Trump also suggested that the blame for any violence that day could be placed on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats because they didn’t take the potential for violence seriously.
“They are the ones that were responsible,” he said.
"There was such love at that rally … the love in the air, I've never seen anything like it" — Trump has completely rewritten the history of the deadly January 6 insurrection he instigated pic.twitter.com/wpX4fvXaqT
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 11, 2021
