Republican candidate Donald Trump during his Univision town hall faced tough questions from a former supporter, who questioned the former president on his actions during the January 6 riot, his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Trump distanced himself from the Capitol attack, and called it a ‘day of love’.
Romido who said that he was a former Republican voiced his reservations about Trump’s delayed response to the January 6 Capitol attack, saying, “What happened during January 6 and the fact that, you know, you waited so long to take action while your supporters were attacking the Capitol.”
Trump distanced himself from the attack and said that the people came because they thought the election was “rigged.”
“They didn’t come because of me.They came because of the election. They thought the election was a rigged election, and that’s why they came. Some of those people went down to the Capitol,” the former president said.
During the town hall, Trump also claimed that there were no guns present during the attack, saying, “There were no guns down there. We didn’t have guns. The others had guns, but we didn’t have guns,” despite testimony from the House January 6 committee revealing that Trump was aware many in the crowd were armed, and several rioters have been convicted for carrying firearms during the assault.
He also referenced the death of protester Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a Capitol police officer, as an example of strong action being taken that day. “Ashley Babbitt was killed. Nobody was killed.”
Trump said that only a small percentage of people charged down the Capitol, and claimed that it was a “day of love” from the viewpoint of the “millions of people of came” and that it could have been the largest group he has ever spoken before.
“These are people that walked down. This was a tiny percentage of the overall, which nobody sees and nobody shows. But that was a day of love. From the standpoint of the millions, it’s like hundreds of thousands. It could have been the largest group I’ve ever spoken before. They asked me to speak,” he said.
“They asked me to speak. I went and I spoke, and I used the term peacefully and patriotically,” Trump said.
Trump also repeated his intention to pardon most January 6 rioters if re-elected, calling them “political prisoners” and “unbelievable patriots.”
Over 1,500 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, with about 1,100 convicted.
