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Topline
Former President Donald Trump strongly defended his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6—claiming they posed “zero threat” and that they “love our country”—while speaking to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Thursday night where he made no mention of the violent attacks by the rioters which left one police officer dead and several others injured.
The United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. was breached by thousands of protesters … [+]
Key Facts
In his interview on the Ingraham Angle, Trump decried law enforcement for “persecuting” the rioters and complained that nothing bad happens to groups like Antifa “who kill people,” Trump alleged without offering any evidence.
While the former president briefly acknowledged those entering Capitol building “shouldn’t have done it”, he quickly went back to defending them, saying the ones who went in were “hugging and kissing” the police and the guards and after being “waved in” they simply walked in and walked out.
During the interview Trump also launched into a rant about the election, equating it with a “third-world election” and falsely claimed the numbers were “vastly” in his favor.
Ingraham awkwardly tried to cut off Trump’s false election claims—likely wanting to avoid legal action like her other Fox News colleagues—and said “we are not going to re-litigate the past tonight.”
The former president then attacked the Supreme Court, saying the justices “should be ashamed of themselves” for refusing to overturn the election.
When prompted by Ingraham of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, Trump retorted that they did not have the “courage to do what they had to do.”
Crucial Quote
Ignoring their violent attack on police officers and their chants of “Hang Mike Pence,” Trump tried to paint the rioters as patriots, saying:“They wave American flags, in many cases, they are waving the American flag, and they love our country.”
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