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 \u2014 who were set to formally certify his reelection loss \u2014 running for their lives.
\u201cLike all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem,\u201d he said in a video, condemning what he called a \u201cheinous attack.\u201d
That condemnation was delayed and only offered amid widespread criticism \u2014 including from fellow Republicans \u2014 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 \u201clarge portion\u201d 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.
\u201cThey were there proud, they were there with love in their heart. \u2026 And it was a beautiful day,\u201d 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.
\u201cJan. 6: It was the largest crowd I\u2019ve ever spoken to,\u201d 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\u2019s 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 \u2014 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\u2019s Laura Ingraham, Trump claimed the rioters had posed \u201czero threat\u201d to the lawmakers who had assembled in the Capitol to certify the Electoral College vote \u2014 even though the mob tried to breach the House chamber.
\u201cLook, they went in \u2014 they shouldn\u2019t have done it. Some of them went in, and they\u2019re hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know, they had a great relationship,\u201d 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\u2019s 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\u2019s identity, despite the officer being cleared of wrongdoing by two federal investigations.
\u201cWho shot Ashli Babbitt?\u201d Trump asked repeatedly.
Trump called Babbitt \u201can innocent, wonderful, incredible woman\u201d in an interview with Fox News and described his supporters that day in glowing terms, claiming that there had been a \u201clove fest between the Capitol police and the people that walked down to the Capitol.\u201d
\u201cThey were peaceful people. These were great people. The crowd was unbelievable,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I mentioned the word \u2018love.\u2019 The love \u2014 the love in the air, I\u2019ve never seen anything like it.\u201d
That fall, Trump taped a video that was played at an event commemorating what would have been Babbitt\u2019s birthday in which he demanded \u201cjustice\u201d 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.
\u201cIf I run and if I win, we will treat those people from Jan. 6 fairly,\u201d he told the crowd. \u201cAnd if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.\u201d 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.
\u201cI\u2019m financially supporting people that are incredible, and they were in my office actually two days ago. It\u2019s very much on my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a disgrace what they\u2019ve done to them. \u2026 Contributions should be made.\u201d
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\u2019s mother.
\u201cWe\u2019re with you. We\u2019re working with a lot of different people on this. And we can\u2019t let this happen,\u201d he said via a cellphone held up to a microphone.
Trump\u2019s support has only intensified since he formally launched his third campaign.
Earlier this year, he collaborated on \u201cJustice for All,\u201d a song that features a choir of Jan. 6 defendants singing \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner,\u201d 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.
\u201cThey\u2019ve been made to pay a price that is very unfair, in many cases,\u201d he said.
Trump also recorded a video played at the group\u2019s holiday fundraising event in Washington and hosted a dinner for family members of Jan. 6 defendants at Mar-a-Lago in March.
\u201cHe is very concerned for these families,\u201d 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\u2019t 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 \u201cstaged riot\u201d orchestrated by the government.
Trump was still in charge of the government at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n