Former US President Donald Trump has hit back after the congressional panel report, released earlier this week, blamed him for the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill.
On his Truth Social social media platform, Trump posted a video and said: “The selection committee [sic] he did not produce a single shred of evidence that he somehow intended or wanted violence on our Capitol.”
“The evidence does not exist because the claim is baseless and a monstrous lie,” Trump added.
The Republican leader, who is having a hard time getting support from his party’s men for the 2024 race, said it was not an insurrection but a protest that got out of hand.
“The events of January 6 were not an insurrection. They were a protest that got tragically out of control.”
He reiterated that his government had called for the deployment of 10,000 to 20,000 National Guard troops, a claim categorically denied by the select committee.
In particular, the committee that released the report has called for Trump to never be allowed to hold office again. To substantiate the claims, the report cites at least 200 acts in which Trump and his allies attempted to overturn the presidential election.
“That evidence has led to an absolute and direct conclusion: the central cause of January 6 was one man, former President Donald Trump, who was followed by many others. None of the events of January 6 would have happened without him.”
He adds that Trump did not attempt to appease his charging supporters on Capitol Hill in time. His first tweet, asking followers to back off, came an hour after the chaotic events began. At the time, Trump’s tweet had little to no meaning as most had infiltrated the Capitol.
The 800-page report was published after conducting more than 1,000 interviews and examining a large number of documents, phone records, texts and more.
(With agency contributions)
