Over the weekend, emboldened by a cowardly mainstream media and a slow-moving January 6 House Select committee, Donald Trump escalated his efforts to seize control of the story of the violent insurrection at the Capitol he incited last year. At a rally held in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday, Trump painted the insurrectionists as martyrs and heroes, claiming those who have been arrested and charged — more than 700 — "are being treated so unfairly" and promised, "if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons." On Sunday, Trump doubled down, releasing a statement all but confessing he had wished for then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election on January 6.
"Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome," his statement claimed. "Unfortunately, he didn't exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!"
