Outtakes from former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 7 prepared comments to the nation following the certification of the 2020 presidential election were played for the Jan. 6 House Select Committee.
Clips from Trump’s attempts to film the address were played in the Jan. 6 committee’s eighth public hearing on Thursday evening, according to The Washington Post.
Trump’s comments started with him addressing the rioters’ actions on Capitol Hill saying, “I would like to begin by addressing the heinous attack yesterday, and to those who broke the law, you will pay.”
“You do not represent our movement. You do not represent our country, And if you broke the law —” Trump said before stopping.
The then-president stopped short saying, “you can’t say that. I’m not, I already said, ‘you will pay.’”
Trump began again saying, “The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defied the seat [slaps podium]– it’s defiled, right? See, I can’t see it very well. Okay, I’ll do this. I’m going to do this. Let’s go.”
Clips of Trump starting and stopping went on with him making various adjustments to the script he was given for the address.
“But this election is now over,” Trump said. “Congress has certified the results,” he said, before stopping to tell staffers, “I don’t want to say the election is over. I just want to say Congress has certified the results without saying the election’s over, okay?”
Later in the clip, Trump can be seen honing in on his point saying, “My only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote.”
"I don't want to say the election is over," Trump says in outtakes from his speech on Jan. 7. "I just want to say Congress has certified the results." Ivanka Trump, who is not seen but heard in the background, helps him make revisions in real time. pic.twitter.com/cCfnyWKgLo
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 22, 2022
According to CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins, former first daughter Ivanka Trump Kushner could be heard assisting Trump in making changes to the comments in real-time, as CNN also reported in their coverage of the Jan. 6 committee hearings.
Committee members alleged that Trump’s staff wanted him to deliver his comments on the morning of Jan. 7, but the former president reportedly put it off for hours, according to the Post.
Former Trump administration chief of staff John Kelly said in a recent interview that staffers encouraged Trump to record a video when he was delivering comments he was hesitant about.
“We would try and get him to either stay on the teleprompter or, better, to record it. He hated that,” Kelly said according to the Post.
Trump has consistently maintained that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and that President Joe Biden should not have been certified the winner, however multiple investigations have failed to alter the results of the election, as The Associated Press reported.