Former President Donald Trump marked the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by reiterating calls for President Joe Biden to release the “hostages.”
Trump brought up Jan. 6 at both campaign appearances Saturday in Iowa, saying at one of them that participants in the riots three years ago acted “patriotically and peacefully.”
He also continued to pursue former Rep. Liz Cheney, one of only two Republicans to join the House investigation after the attack.
After a nearly three-and-a-half-hour delay – due to a malfunction in a small private plane that Trump's team had chartered to ferry the former president between two smaller Iowa towns ahead of the Jan. 15 caucuses – Trump took the stage in Clinton, Iowa, on Saturday evening .
Trump accused Biden and the Democrats of turning the country into “h***,” then added, “Do you know what they're doing?” They won't release the J6 hostages. You have suffered enough.'
Former President Donald Trump brought up the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol during his two appearances in Iowa on Saturday. At an evening rally in Clinton, Trump called on President Joe Biden to “release the J6 hostages!”
Congress had gathered at the Capitol to count the Electoral College votes when crowds of Trump supporters rioted, broke into the building, injured police officers, called for the hanging of Vice President Mike Pence and blocked the proceedings for hours
“They will not release them,” the ex-president and Republican Party 2024 hopeful continued. “I call them hostages, some people call them prisoners, I call them hostages.”
“Release the J6 hostages, Joe!” Trump said, his voice getting louder. “Release her, Joe! “You can make them easily, Joe.”
Biden opened his 2024 campaign year with a speech Friday in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, saying on Jan. 6, “We almost lost America.”
In his remarks, he also called Trump “sick” and a “loser.”
Congress had gathered at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 to count the Electoral College votes and certify Biden's victory when crowds of Trump supporters rioted, broke into the building, injured police officers, called for the hanging of Vice President Mike Pence and the process stalled for hours.
Since then, more than 1,265 defendants have been charged with crimes related to the attack in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Justice Department.
Trump has long said he would pardon the participants if he returned to office.
At an earlier event in Newton, Iowa, the former president said that the real “insurrection” was the crisis at the U.S. southern border and that migrants were not behaving “patriotically and peacefully, peacefully and patriotically” like the crowd of Trump supporters on January 6th. 2021
The ex-president once again addressed former Representative Liz Cheney, who gave a speech in Dartmouth, New Hampshire on Friday (pictured). Trump said Cheney had a case of “Trump deangement syndrome.” “I see her on TV and she’s shaking,” Trump said
During his earlier stop in Iowa, in the town of Newton outside Des Moines, Trump said the current crisis at the southern border was a bigger problem than what happened on Jan. 6.
“When you talk about insurrection – that’s the real thing,” commented the ex-president.
He said migrants were not doing things “patriotically and peacefully, peacefully and patriotically,” words Trump reserved for the masses on Jan. 6.
At another point in his Newton event, Trump remarked, “Nobody thought J6 was even a possibility,” before attacking Cheney.
“She’s a severe case of Trump deangement syndrome,” he said. “I see her on TV, she's shaking,” he said, wiggling behind the podium to make an impression.
Then he claimed the “knock” as his own[ing] she is not in office.'
“You know she lost by the biggest defeat in the history of a congresswoman, did you know that? Because any congressman, congressman or congresswoman, who behaved that badly would be out of the race long before the race,” said Trump.
Cheney lost her Republican primary in ultra-red Wyoming in August 2022 to current Rep. Harriet Hageman by more than 37 points, setting records.
Hageman is a supporter of the former president.