Donald Trump claimed in a new interview that his Secret Service blocked him from marching on the United States Capitol with his supporters on January 6, last year. Trump was impeached by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives for allegedly encouraging his followers to storm the Capitol.
Trump discussed the Capitol attacks in a recent interview with the Washington Post, dismissing the outrage about a seven-hour gap in White House phone logs on the day of the attack.
Trump claims he would have joined his followers ‘in a minute’ if his Secret Service had not advised him otherwise.
‘I couldn’t go because the Secret Service told I couldn’t.’ ‘I would have gone there in a heartbeat,’ Trump said in an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, April 7, at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
The billionaire businessman also went after lawmakers probing his daughter Ivanka over the events of January 6, stating that he provided her ‘access,’ but she did not take advantage of it.
Ivanka Trump’s eight-hour interview with the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol, according to Trump, was a “shame and harassment.”
He said that the House Select Committee never contacted him directly, but that if it did, he was ambiguous about what would happen, saying, “It depends what the request is.”
Trump also denied destroying call logs or using burner phones between 11:17 a.m. and 6:54 p.m., and refused to name who he spoke with during that time except from Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
‘As far as telephone calls go, I don’t recall getting too many,’ Trump remarked. ‘Why should it matter who phoned me?’ What difference did it make whether lawmakers called me? It has nothing to do with secrecy. There was no hidden agenda.’
Before the brawl, Trump praised the organizers of his White House ‘Stop the Steal’ rally, which drew a ‘tremendous’ audience.
‘The gathering was far larger than I had anticipated. I think it was the biggest crowd I’ve ever addressed. I’m not sure what that means, but there aren’t many photographs. They won’t show images, and the phony news won’t show pictures,’ Trump stated.
Trump denied regretted inciting people to invade Capitol Hill on that particular day, and he also denied inflaming the mob with harsh remarks.
‘I said peaceful and patriotic,’ he said, without addressing his previous remarks, according to reports.
Trump then blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the majority of the attacks.
‘I thought it was a pity, and I kept wondering why she didn’t do something about it.’ Why isn’t Nancy Pelosi taking action on this? Also, the mayor of Washington, D.C. The mayor of Washington, D.C., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are in command,’ Trump told the Washington Post.
He went on to say that he “hated seeing” the riot and that he “assumed they were taking care of it.”
‘However, when you see significant electoral fraud, I can’t conceive that someone who wins an election on the basis of fraud doesn’t do something?’
‘How could that have gone unnoticed?’ If you are a bank robber or a jewelry store thief who enters Tiffany’s and steals their jewels and is caught, you must return the stones.’ Trump downplayed the possibility of a primary challenge from current and former allies such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2024.
‘I can’t think they’d want to run if I did.’ Some would have had a hard time fleeing out of loyalty. I believe that the majority of those people, as well as practically every name you mentioned, are there as a result of my efforts. Because I backed and endorsed them in some situations,’ Trump asserted.
‘You know Ron was at 3%, and the day I endorsed him, he won the campaign…’ he remarked of DeSantis. The contest was lost as soon as I endorsed him.’
‘I get along well with Ron, and I get along well with all of the others you mentioned. Would they take a stand against me? They are unlikely to oppose me. ‘I seriously doubt it.’