Former President Donald Trump believes that attendees of a rally shortly before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol were full of love.
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, Trump alleged that he and others viewed the crowd at a rally before the riot as being a “loving crowd.”
When asked what his goal was for speaking at the Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, Trump said, “I was speaking. My goal primarily was to make a speech. And … I think it was a relatively calm speech.”
The former president went on to say he believed it was the “largest crowd” he had spoken to and added, “And it was a loving crowd, too, by the way. There was a lot of love, I’ve heard that from everybody.”
“Many, many people have told me, ‘That was a loving crowd,'” he asserted.
Leonnig pressed Trump on what he would have liked to have seen after he encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol.
“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,” Trump said.
Videos from the day show rioters breaking windows and entering the building. However, some of those who entered the building claim that law enforcement simply let them enter the building and did not tell them they were not allowed to be there.
Trump continued, “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.”
He went on to claim that there was evidence that the election was rigged, to which Rucker asked if he needed better lawyers to argue in court that there was fraud as he noted several lawsuits seeking to reverse the outcome failed.
“No, I needed better judges,” Trump said.