Donald Trump claimed that the armed militias that descended on Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, were there “peacefully”in an interview on Fox News on Sunday, as he doubled down on his claim that the American people are threatened by an “enemy within.”
In the sit-down conversation with Media Buzz host Howard Kurtz, the former president was adamant that crowds in Washington D.C. on the day of the insurrection were there “peacefully and patriotically.”
“This was by far the biggest crowd and I’ve spoken at Washington monument and Lincoln memorial on the 4th July,” he said. “This crowd was bigger. I tell you, there was a beauty and love to it that I’ve never seen before.
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“A small group of people went down to the Capitol and a lot of strange things happened including police ushering them into the Capitol and a lot of strange things, so I’m not referring to that,” he continued.
That claim was verified by Fox News as false: “To clarify, police did not usher protesters into the Capitol. They were totally overrun. Trump’s claims that the last election was rigged has never been proven in any of the lawsuits filed.”
In the interview, Trump again insisted it was “accurate” to state there are “enemies within” the United States, claiming that claimed Rep. Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were among them.
The former president also falsely claimed he offered Pelosi troops from the National Guard to defend Capitol Hill. The falsehood, however, was fact-checked by Kurtz in a break-up of the interview.
Kurtz also pressed Trump on whether he had “much sympathy” for the officers defending the US Capitol Building.
“When I made that speech, I’ve never seen anything like it. They came down to protest a rigged election. You know what, I think you have the right to protest in this country,” Trump replied.
Frowning, the rattled Trump kept trying to compare the George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon to the Jan. 6 riot.
“There’s nobody closer to the police than I am, nobody. But you take a look at Portland, Oregon, people were killed. There was nobody killed here. Nobody had guns here.”
“There were people with guns,” Kurtz corrected him.
“Really? Well I have not heard that at all,” Trump replied, stumped, before continuing to insist they weren’t armed.
“I don’t think so. They had no guns. They had no guns,” he said.
