https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/politics/ap-trump-once-condemned-the-jan-6-rioters-now-hes-become-one-of-their-biggest-supporters/
Trump once condemned the Jan. 6 rioters. Now he’s become one of their biggest supporters
FILE – Former President Donald Trump stands while a song, “Justice
for All,” is played during a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport,
March 25, 2023, in Waco, Texas. The song features a choir of men
imprisoned for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S.
Capitol singing the national anthem and a recording of Trump reciting
the Pledge of Allegiance. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
by: JILL COLVIN, Associated Press
This is an archived article and the information in the article may be
outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was
last updated.
NEW YORK (AP) — The day after Jan. 6, 2021, then-President Donald
Trump denounced the rioters who violently stormed the Capitol building,
breaking through barricades, battling law enforcement and sending
members of Congress — who were set to formally certify his reelection
loss — running for their lives.
“Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and
mayhem,” he said in a video, condemning what he called a “heinous
attack.”
That condemnation was delayed and only offered amid widespread
criticism — including from fellow Republicans — for his role in sparking
the mayhem. But 2 1/2 years later, any sign of regret or reprimand from
Trump has vanished as he prepares to face federal criminal charges for
his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Now the early but commanding front-runner in the 2024 Republican
presidential primary, Trump regularly downplays the violence, lionizes
the rioters as patriots and spreads false claims about who was involved.
He has not only vowed to pardon a “large portion” of Jan. 6 defendants
if he wins a second term, but he has also fundraised for them,
befriended their families and collaborated on a song that became a
surprise iTunes hit.
“They were there proud, they were there with love in their heart. …
And it was a beautiful day,” Trump said at a recent CNN town hall. When
asked if he had any regrets about his actions that day, Trump voiced no
remorse and instead seemed most concerned about the lack of attention
paid to his crowd size.
“Jan. 6: It was the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken to,” he said.
Trump was always reluctant to condemn the actions of supporters
spurred by his lies of a stolen election. As the violence unfolded,
Trump ignored the desperate pleas of aides and allies to denounce the
rioters and ask them to stand down. And when he did speak out, hours
later, his response was tepid: He said he loved the rioters and shared
their pain.
Trump’s evolution began at a time when he was garnering relatively
little mainstream media coverage. And it echoed the efforts of some
Republicans in Congress, who had tried to recast the mob as nonviolent
despite reams of video footage, public testimony and accounts from
members of Congress, journalists and Capitol Police officers, 140 of
whom were injured that day.
It also coincided with a broader shift in public opinion. Polling
from Monmouth University showed that between March and November 2021,
Republicans grew increasingly likely to say the anger that led to the
Capitol attack was justified, with 54% saying the anger was either fully
or partially justified in the fall — up from 40% that spring.
The Pew Research Center also found that, between March and September
2021, Republicans grew less likely to say it was important for law
enforcement agencies to find and prosecute the rioters. Only 57% said
that it was very or somewhat important in the fall, down from about 8 in
10 six months earlier.
That March, in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Laura Ingraham,
Trump claimed the rioters had posed “zero threat” to the lawmakers who
had assembled in the Capitol to certify the Electoral College vote —
even though the mob tried to breach the House chamber.
“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 a great relationship,” he said.
In fact, many of the protesters violently clashed with police as they
stormed the building, smashing windows and ramming through doors. Some
brandished weapons; others wore tactical gear. Dozens of officers were
severely injured.
By that time, many of Trump’s supporters had already painted Ashli
Babbitt, one of five people who died during or immediately after the
riot, as a martyr unjustly killed by police,
Babbitt was fatally shot by an officer while trying to climb through
the broken window of a barricaded door as Capitol Police scrambled to
evacuate members.
That summer, Trump began to publicly demand the release of the
shooter’s identity, despite the officer being cleared of wrongdoing by
two federal investigations.
“Who shot Ashli Babbitt?” Trump asked repeatedly.
Trump called Babbitt “an innocent, wonderful, incredible woman” in an
interview with Fox News and described his supporters that day in
glowing terms, claiming that there had been a “love fest between the
Capitol police and the people that walked down to the Capitol.”
“They were peaceful people. These were great people. The crowd was
unbelievable,” he said. “And I mentioned the word ‘love.’ The love — the
love in the air, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
That fall, Trump taped a video that was played at an event
commemorating what would have been Babbitt’s birthday in which he
demanded “justice” for her and her family.
In January 2022, Trump first publicly dangled the prospect of pardons for the Jan. 6 defendants at a rally in Texas.
“If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6
fairly,” he told the crowd. “And if it requires pardons, we will give
them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.” At that point,
more than 670 people had been convicted of crimes related to the
attack, including some found guilty of seditious conspiracy and
assaulting police officers.
In September 2022, Trump told conservative radio host Wendy Bell that
he was helping some of the defendants, though aides declined at the
time to elaborate or say how much he had contributed.
“I’m financially supporting people that are incredible, and they were
in my office actually two days ago. It’s very much on my mind,” he
said. “It’s a disgrace what they’ve done to them. … Contributions should
be made.”
Days later, Trump held a rally in Pennsylvania that included remarks
from Cynthia Hughes, the founder of the Patriot Freedom Project, whose
nephew was convicted for storming the Capitol. Geri Perna, whose nephew
died by suicide while awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to
riot-related charges, also spoke.
Later that month, the former president called into a small rally held
outside a Washington jail where Jan. 6 defendants have been held, led
by Micki Witthoeft, Babbitt’s mother.
“We’re with you. We’re working with a lot of different people on
this. And we can’t let this happen,” he said via a cellphone held up to a
microphone.
Trump’s support has only intensified since he formally launched his third campaign.
Earlier this year, he collaborated on “Justice for All,” a song that
features a choir of Jan. 6 defendants singing “The Star-Spangled
Banner,” recorded over a prison phone line and overlaid with Trump
reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Trump featured the song at the first official rally of his 2024
campaign, standing with his hand on his heart as a music video featuring
violent footage of the riot played behind him on two giant screens.
In June, he spoke at a Patriot Freedom Project fundraiser to support
the defendants that was held at his Bedminster, New Jersey, club.
“They’ve been made to pay a price that is very unfair, in many cases,” he said.
Trump also recorded a video played at the group’s holiday fundraising
event in Washington and hosted a dinner for family members of Jan. 6
defendants at Mar-a-Lago in March.
“He is very concerned for these families,” Hughes said after the event.
An Associated Press review of social media posts, voter
registrations, court files and other public records found that the mob
was overwhelmingly made up of longtime Trump supporters, including GOP
officials, donors and far-right militants.
But that hasn’t stopped Trump from falsely claiming that others were
responsible for the attack, including antifa and Black Lives Matter.
Last weekend on his social media site, Trump amplified messages claiming
that Jan. 6 had been a “staged riot” orchestrated by the government.
Trump was still in charge of the government at the time.
___
Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report.