Trump Calls Followers At Jan. 6 Capitol Riot A ‘Loving Crowd’

Former President Donald Trump referred his supporters, who were assembled for his speech ahead of the January 6 insurrection, as a “loving crowd” in March in a newly revealed recording.

The audio recording was taken by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, during an interview for their book, I Alone Can Fix It.

“I think it was the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken [to] before,” Trump said. “It went from that point – which is almost at the White house – to beyond the Washington monument. It was – and wide. 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,” Trump added.

For months, the Republicans in Congress have been trying to downplay the deadly January 6 insurrection. 

Senate Republicans successfully blocked Democratic lawmakers’ effort to create an independent committee to scrutinize the riot on January 6. This month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) created a select committee to investigate the riot without Republican support. 

On Wednesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) withdrew all of his Republican picks from the committee after two of his nominees, who are both Trump allies, were rejected by Pelosi.