he called the national guard? bahahaha
Trump told the crowd that ‘very different rules’ applied.
Whipping up anger against Republicans who were not going along with his plan for subverting the election, like Vice President Mike Pence, Mr. Trump told the crowd that “different rules” now applied. At the most obvious level, the president was arguing that what he wanted Mr. Pence to do — reject the state-certified Electoral College results — would be legitimate, but the notion of “very different rules” applying carried broader overtones of extraordinary permission as well. (“RINO” is a term of abuse used by highly partisan Republicans against more moderate colleagues they deem to be “Republicans in Name Only.”)
Trump insinuated that Republican officials, including Pence, would endanger themselves by accepting Biden’s win.
Mr. Trump twice told the crowd that Republicans who did not go along with his effort to overturn the election — Mr. Pence as well as senators like Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, who did not join in the performative objections led by Mr. Hawley and Mr. Cruz — were actually the ones being courageous. In context, the president’s implication is that they were putting themselves at risk because it would be safer to go along with what he wanted. During the ensuing riot, the mob
chanted “Hang Mike Pence.”
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Trump suggested that he wanted his supporters to stop the certification of Biden’s electoral win, not just protest it.
Two months after he lost the election, Mr. Trump repeatedly told his followers that they could still stop Mr. Biden from becoming president if they “fight like hell,” a formulation that suggested they act and change things, not merely raise their voices in protest.
As he dispatched his supporters into what became deadly chaos, Trump falsely told them that he would come, too.
As he sicced his supporters on Congress, Mr. Trump assured them that he would personally accompany them to the Capitol. In fact, as several of his followers and police officers were being injured or dying in the ensuing chaos, the president was watching the violence play out on television from the safety of the White House.
The Trump Mob at the Capitol
‘Our President Wants Us Here’: The Mob That Stormed the Capitol
Jan. 9, 2021
‘Be There. Will Be Wild!’: Trump All but Circled the Date
Jan. 6, 2021
A Mob and the Breach of Democracy: The Violent End of the Trump Era
Jan. 6, 2021
Charlie Savage is a Washington-based national security and legal policy correspondent. A recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, he previously worked at The Boston Globe and The Miami Herald. His most recent book is
“Power Wars: The Relentless Rise of Presidential Authority and Secrecy.” @charlie_savage •
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A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 11, 2021, Section A, Page 13 of the New York edition with the headline: What Trump Told Supporters Before the Violence Began.
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Understand the Ongoing Jan. 6 Investigations
As the House committee begins its public hearings about the events that led to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, a parallel investigation is underway within the Justice Department.
The House Investigation
The Justice Dept. Investigation
Jan. 6 and Its Aftermath
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