Former President Donald Trump scheduled an interview on Fox News on Thursday to falsely claim that his supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 went there to offer hugs and kisses to the cops— despite the fact that five people died as a result of the violent insurrection, including a Capitol Police officer.
“It was zero threat. Right from the start, it was zero threat,” Trump told right-wing host Laura Ingraham. “Look, they went in — they shouldn’t have done it — some of them went in, and they’re hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know? They had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in, and they walked out,” Trump said before pivoting to blame ‘Antifa’ for the unrest.
Trump’s remarks represent perhaps his most serious distortion yet of the events of Jan. 6, when a mob of MAGA rioters stormed the Capitol in an effort to halt the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election after being urged by to do so Trump himself.
“If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump said, among other incendiary statements. One week later, the House impeached him for a second time for inciting the insurrection.
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Prosecutors have arrested more than 300 participants in the Capitol attack, and the former leader of the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation said in an interview Sunday that he believes evidence would support a charge of “seditious conspiracy” against some of the rioters.
Over 140 officers were injured in the insurrection, according to the head of the Capitol Police officers’ union.
Trump himself could face criminal charges for inciting the deadly insurrection.
Here's what Trump had to say on Fox tonight about the Capitol riots:
"It was zero threat, right from the start… Some of them went in, and they are hugging and kissing the police and the guards… a lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in and they walked out" pic.twitter.com/tPCwuzrlOd
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 26, 2021
