Former President Donald Trump on Thursday night slammed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for defending Lt. Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt on January 6th, 2021.
Hours after McCarthy said that Byrd was "doing his job" by trying to defend lawmakers from Trump-backed rioters on January 6th, Trump took to Truth Social to call out McCarthy for defending an officer whom Trump decried as a "thug."
"I totally disagree with the Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, in that the Police Officer 'Thug,' who has had a very checkered past to begin with, was not just "doing his job" when he shot and killed Great Patriot Ashli Babbitt at point blank range," Trump said. "Despite trying to keep him anonymous, shielded, and protected, this MISFIT proudly showed up on NBC Fake Nightly News 'bragging' about the killing."
Byrd never bragged about killing Babbitt, though he did say his actions were justified given the threat she was posing to lawmakers on January 6th.
Despite this, Trump ended his post with another attack on the officer.
"He was not a hero but a COWARD, who wanted to show how tough he was. ASHLI BABBITT WAS MURDERED!!!" he railed.
In fact, Ashli Babbitt was trying to break into House chamber on January 6th when lawmakers were still being evacuated. As she was crawling through a shattered window adjacent to a door that police had barricaded to prevent rioters from reaching members of Congress, Byrd shot her after warning her and other rioters to get back.
A Capitol Police investigation of the incident cleared Byrd of any wrongdoing.
