New Jan. 6 Committee Video Shows Just How Reluctant Trump Was To Condemn Rioters

The former president refused to say the Capitol rioters did not "represent" him.
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A new video from the Jan. 6 committee shows just how reluctant former President Donald Trump was to condemn the Capitol riot.

On Monday, committee member Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) tweeted a video showing testimony from various Trump underlings ― including daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump, son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and White House lawyer Pat Cipollone ― about a speech his advisers wanted him to give on Jan. 7.

The video shows that Trump made multiple edits to the speech by hand.

For instance, Trump crossed out a line that would have told the Capitol rioters, “I want it to be very clear you do not represent me,” according to a draft of the speech shared by the committee. Kushner told the committee he did not know why the former president removed that line.

Trump also edited the remark “If you broke the law, you belong in jail” to the blander statement “If you broke the law, you will pay.”

The video ends with Trump aide John McEntee admitting he didn’t think Trump really wanted to give the Jan. 7 speech condemning the rioters.

“What did you base that on?” an investigator asked.

McEntee’s response: “The fact that someone has to tell me to nudge it along.”

You can see the complete video below.

It took more than 24 hours for President Trump to address the nation again after his Rose Garden video on January 6th in which he affectionately told his followers to go home in peace.

There were more things he was unwilling to say. pic.twitter.com/cJBIX5ROxs

— Rep. Elaine Luria (@RepElaineLuria) July 25, 2022

As you might expect, lawmakers, journalists and Twitter users had strong reactions to the video:

He refused to say it because the truth is: the rioters did represent him.

He lied to them, provoked them, and sent them to the Capitol to incite a violent insurrection in his desperate attempt to cling to power. https://t.co/82zN8AVfAh

— Rep. Jared Huffman (@RepHuffman) July 25, 2022

Trump's edit of Jan 7 remarks. Edited out "sickened," directions of DOJ to go after rioters, and "you do not represent me." https://t.co/thKXGWSQSL pic.twitter.com/4f6g9TQgSw

— Eric Umansky (@ericuman) July 25, 2022

I grudgingly applaud the committee for hoarding information in order to make the extraordinarily compelling presentation that captured the nation's attention and made the case for criminal prosecution.

But scraps like this are maddening. Release the depositions now! https://t.co/N2jWIHYGOw

— Dan Froomkin/PressWatchers.org ☮️ (@froomkin) July 25, 2022

The writing was on the wall,

when Trump crossed out it all. https://t.co/3Ff5ys1Ljk

— Dennis Herring (@dcherring) July 25, 2022

Some pretty striking bonus content here https://t.co/mrarmfWfLc

— Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic) July 25, 2022

J6 committee is clearly going to keep things rolling until Season Two drops. https://t.co/RpZqc21u6o

— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) July 25, 2022
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