Former president Donald Trump claimed that his tweets from the day of the Capitol Hill insurrection prove that he wanted peace but failed to mention his instructions to his supporters, asking them to “fight like hell”.
In November, Mr Trump’s Twitter account was reinstated by Elon Musk, reversing a ban that kept the former president off the social media site since a pro-Trump mob attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 as Congress was poised to certify Joe Biden’s election victory.
In a statement on his social media platform Truth Social, Mr Trump on Wednesday attached his tweets from the day of the violence in a bid to claim that he had asked for peace as his supporters stormed Capitol Hill.
“My clear and unequivocal statements on January 6, 2021, which I conveyed to my over 100 million followers, are no longer under ‘wraps’.
“The highly partisan January 6th Committee did not want these messages to be part of the Historical and Legal Record, but they have now been fully restored – a sad shock to what I call the Unselect Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs,” Mr Trump said.
Mr Trump included two of his tweets in which he asked everyone to be “peaceful”.
“I am asking for everyone at the US Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank You!” said one of the tweets.
In another tweet attached in his statement Mr Trump said: “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our country. Stay Peaceful!”
The former president claimed that the tweets were “consistent with a major theme of my speech on the Ellipse in front of perhaps the largest crowd (seldom mentioned – only a ‘tiny’ percentage went to the Capitol Building) I have ever spoken before, that the attendees were there to “PEACEFULLY AND PATRIOTICALLY MAKE [THEIR] VOICES HEARD”.
His statement did not refer to his tweet in which he asked his supporters to “fight like hell”.
The full, 11,000-word Rev transcript of Mr Trump’s speech cited by Congressional Democrats in a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation calling for an investigation of the president for the “instigation, planning and execution” of the attack on the US Capitol revealed that he had asked his supporters to march to Capitol Hill.
The riot started after his “Save America Rally” in the Ellipse, a park near the White House.
“And we fight. We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said.
Mr Trump’s statement came as a judge in Georgia on Monday ordered the partial release later this week of a report by a special grand jury that investigated efforts by him and his allies to overturn his election loss.
The release is likely to bring more legal jeopardy for the former president as he ramped up his 2024 White House campaign.
