Mary Trump, former President Donald Trump’s niece, says the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol should not have been a surprise.
During an appearance on “The View” Monday, Mary Trump explained, “For months before the election, Donald had already been sowing seeds of doubt about the results…and after the election, much more troublingly, especially since Republicans did not hold him accountable after the first impeachment, Republican leadership failed to rein him in.”
She then accused Republicans of giving Trump “months during which he could stoke up the hatred and anger in his base.”
Mary Trump predicted the country will be struggling with the lasting effects of the events because “Republicans are now peddling the second big lie, which is that the insurrection either didn’t happen or that it was no big deal.”
Watch Mary Trump’s comments below:
.@MaryLTrump tells @TheView why she says the Jan. 6 Capitol attack shouldn’t have been a surprise: “Republican leadership failed to rein [former Pres. Trump] in.”
— The View (@TheView) August 2, 2021
“They gave him months during which he could stoke up the hatred and anger in his base.” https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik pic.twitter.com/q5jzBdvgwd
The former president’s view of the events leading up to the Capitol attack is different from that of his niece’s. He called the crowd who attended the rally before the attack “loving,” according to audio released of an interview conducted for the new book “I Alone Can Fix It,” by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker of The Washington Post.
When asked what he would have liked to have seen after encouraging his supporters to march to the Capitol, former President Trump replied, “Not to go in, although they were ushered in by the police. I mean, in all fairness, the Capitol Police were ushering people in. The Capitol Police were very friendly. They were hugging and kissing.”
He added, “Personally, what I wanted is what they wanted. They showed up just to show support because I happen to believe the election was rigged at a level like nothing has ever been rigged before.”
Less than a month before the riot, former President Trump told the Justice Department to say “the election was corrupt,” according to new documents provided to lawmakers and obtained by The New York Times.
During the December 27 phone call, he questioned the then-acting attorney general, Jeffrey A. Rosen, and his deputy, Richard P. Donoghue, on voter fraud claims disproved by the department.
Donoghue later told former President Trump to “understand that the D.O.J. can’t and won’t snap its fingers and change the outcome of the election, doesn’t work that way.”
The chair of the select committee investigating the January 6 riot, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), told the Guardian he “absolutely” intends to pursue a wide-ranging inquiry against Trump and some of his most prominent allies on Capitol Hill.