Former President Donald Trump had planned to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol with a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as counterprogramming for a scheduled prayer service at the Capitol to commemorate the events of Jan. 6 and to reiterate his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. But the event won’t happen, according to the twice-impeached, one-term former president himself.
In a statement shared n Twitter by his spokesperson, Trump blamed the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot for the cancellation. He said he would instead touch on many of the themes he had planned to discuss at the news conference during a rally in Arizona set for Jan. 15.
“In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the January 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, and instead will discuss many of those important topics at my rally on Saturday, January 15th, in Arizona – It will be a big crowd!” he said in the statement.
While Trump still commands the loyalty of the GOP and its voters, his planned news conference stirred anxiety among some Republicans who feared that the party and its candidates could be forced to relitigate the 2020 election and the former president’s false claim of fraud as the 2022 midterm elections near.
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Read Trump’s entire statement below.
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President Donald J. Trump:
"In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the January 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, and instead will discuss… pic.twitter.com/DJ2SZKs2BJ
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) January 4, 2022
