Donald Trump supplied up a wierd scapegoat for the Jan. 6 revolt in a brand new interview.
The previous president accused former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of permitting mobs of violent Trump supporters to overhaul the U.S. Capitol by allegedly turning down his provide to activate the Nationwide Guard.
Hundreds of individuals descended on Capitol Hill to try to cease the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021, following Trump’s repeated lies a couple of stolen election.
A bipartisan Senate report launched final June related seven deaths to that day’s violence, and late final 12 months, the Home January 6 committee accused Trump of participating in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election.
Rioters personally focused Pelosi on Jan. 6. Folks stalked the halls of Congress chanting, “Nancy! Oh Nancy! We’re looking for you!” Others vandalized her workplace and wreaked havoc all through the constructing.
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However Trump ignored these details whereas chatting with Kristen Welker throughout an interview on “Meet the Press” that aired Sunday.
In a exceptional effort at rewriting historical past, Trump claimed that Pelosi may have prevented that day’s chaos and violence if she’d accepted Trump’s provide to make use of the Nationwide Guard forward of Jan. 6, when he deliberate to host a “Stop the Steal” rally close to the Capitol.
“She turned down 10,000 soldiers,” Trump stated, claiming that Pelosi was in control of safety of the Capitol. “If she didn’t turn down the soldiers, you wouldn’t have had January 6th.”
“Capitol police said that he wanted it and Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t accept it,” Trump stated. “She’s responsible for January 6th.”
Welker countered that Pelosi says Trump by no means formally requested her permission to prepared the Nationwide Guard, though the journalist appeared unable to totally fact-check Trump throughout their trade.
The speaker of the Home doesn’t management safety of the Capitol, nor do they management requests for the Nationwide Guard. These selections lie as an alternative with the Capitol Police Board, who’ve supplied conflicting accounts of the occasions previous to and on Jan. 6.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS by way of Getty Photos
In keeping with an investigation by The New York Occasions, Pelosi permitted a request for reinforcements from Home sergeant-at-arms Paul Irving at round 1:43 p.m. that day, a full two hours earlier than the Pentagon gave the District of Columbia Nationwide Guard commander permission to deploy troops.
Whereas Trump had a lot to say about Pelosi’s alleged errors, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination refused to say whether or not he moved to subdue the assault as soon as it was underway.
“I’m not going to tell you anything,” Trump instructed Welker. “I assumed that [Pelosi] took care of it.”
Pelosi responded to Trump’s claims throughout an look on MSNBC on Sunday, telling reporter Jonathan Capehart: “The former occupant of the White House has always been about projection. He knows he’s responsible for that, so he projects it onto others.”
Watch Trump’s full interview on “Meet the Press” right here.
