Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has stated that in January 2021, he wanted to join the crowd that stormed the Capitol, reports The Hill.
On Wednesday, May 1, Trump confirmed that he had told Secret Service agents that he wanted to go to the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, and mocked claims that after being refused, he attacked officers in his car.
Speaking to supporters in Wisconsin, Trump complained at length about his legal battles and then began to attack legislators investigating the January 6 Capitol riot.
"Remember the person that said I attacked a Secret Service agent in the front of the car? It’s not my deal. I’m a lover, not a fighter. Remember that? And these are tough guys. You know these Secret Service guys, I hate to admit it, they’re slightly younger than me. Just slightly," Trump told his supporters.
He continued to mock the testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. She told Congress's commission investigating the events of that day that she had heard from others that Trump lunged for the steering wheel after his speech near the White House, apparently trying to turn towards the Capitol.
“This is crazy stuff. I sat in the back, and you know what I did say, I said ‘I’d like to go down there because I see a lot of people walking down". They said, 'Sir, it’s better if you don’t'. I said, ‘Well, I’d like to … whatever you guys think.’ That was the whole one of the conversation. These people are crazy,” Trump said.
Hutchinson's damning testimony before the now-disbanded January 6 committee raised new questions about Trump's actions and efforts to join supporters heading to the Capitol.
The driver of Trump's car on January 6 denied testimony that Trump tried to take control of the car.
"[President Trump] never grabbed the steering wheel. I didn’t see him, you know, lunge to try to get into the front seat at all," the unnamed driver told the committee.
However, a copy reviewed by The New York Times indicates that the driver confirmed Hutchinson's account of Trump's insistence on joining supporters at the Capitol. He made the demand to the driver and Bobby Engle, the head of security for the former president.
"The president was insistent on going to the Capitol," said the driver, whose name is not disclosed.
The actions of Trump on January 6, 2021, during the storming of the Capitol, have become a central theme of President Joe Biden's reelection campaign. They also formed the basis of federal charges against Trump in Washington.
Storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters
On January 6, 2021, a joint session of the US Congress was taking place to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Democrat Joe Biden won.
Simultaneously, several thousand supporters of Donald Trump gathered for a massive rally near the Capitol and later stormed the Congress building, causing turmoil with security, during which 5 people died.
In July 2023, the US Justice Department charged Trump with three counts in connection with the Capitol riot.
In November, a court sentenced a former US State Department employee who participated in the storming of the Capitol to five years in prison.