Former President Donald Trump called for the release of Jan. 6 “hostages” during a Saturday campaign event.
Trump delivered a speech at an Iowa rally on the third anniversary of the Capitol riot railing against the treatment of those arrested Jan. 6, 2021, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
“You never hear about that, do you? You have the hostages. The J6 hostages, I call them. Nobody’s been treated ever in history so badly as those people,” Trump told his supporters.
The Jan 6 hostages pic.twitter.com/STPDs8RSIQ
— Theresa Chieng (@TheresaChieng4) January 6, 2024
The former president reminded the crowd he urged rioters to “march peacefully and patriotically” the day of the incident. He compared his initial reaction to the Capitol riot to the rhetoric of Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters, who he said urged protesters to “kill” Republicans while “they’re having lunch.” (RELATED: As More States Seek To Keep Trump Off The Ballot, Kamal Harris Accuses Republicans Of ‘Trying To Silence’ Voters)
“Those J6 hostages are going to jail for 20 years? 18 years? Doctors, lawyer, carpenters, electricians, truck drivers. It’s one of the saddest things,” Trump said. “It’ll go down as one of the saddest things in the history of our country.”
Trump repeated his claim that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged,” stating that Antifa and the FBI were “leading the charge” on Jan. 6.
The former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., echoed similar claims in a statement posted Saturday on social media.
Happy Fake Insurrection Day!!!
The first ever insurrection with armed tour guides and unarmed participants!
I do hope that it was the start of something real though, where people realize that their government is not what they thought it to be unite to take back their country!!!
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 6, 2024
“Happy Fake Insurrection Day!!!” Trump’s eldest son wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “The first ever insurrection with armed tour guides and unarmed participants! I do hope that it was the start of something real though, where people realize that their government is not what they thought it to be unite to take back their country!!!”
Trump also promised he would appoint “strong, highly qualified, pro-Constitution” justices to the Supreme Court who “will interpret the law as written” if reelected as president in 2024. The former president appointed justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett during his four-year term in office, tilting the court’s ideological majority to six conservative justices.