Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol/Chapter 7/Section 7.10
7.10 "WE LOVE YOU. YOU'RE VERY SPECIAL"
The President's tweets were not tamping down on the violence, and White House staff knew it.[247] By 3:17 p.m., Fox News was reporting gunshots on Capitol Hill. Law enforcement officers could be seen in the House chamber, pointing guns over the barricaded door: The chyron blared "Guns Drawn on House Floor."[248] Between 3:29 p.m. and 3:42 p.m., the network was flashing images of a protestor in the presiding officer's chair, right where Vice President Pence had been sitting 90 minutes earlier.[249] Other images showed Members of Congress trapped in the House gallery, crouching below the balcony for cover.[250]
Allies continued to text Meadows, begging the President to order the mob to go home and indicating that it was time the American people hear from the President directly:
At any moment in the afternoon, it would have been easy for President Trump to get before cameras and call off the attack. The White House Press Briefing Room is just down the hallway from the Oval Office, past the Cabinet Room and around the corner to the right. It would have taken less than 60 seconds for the President to get there.[264] The space, moreover, is outfitted with cameras that are constantly "hot," meaning that they are on and ready to go live at a moment's notice.[265] The White House press corps is Unknown, 3:04 p.m.: "Are you with potus right now? Hearing he is in the dining room watching this on TV …" "Is he going to say anything to de-escalate apart from that Tweet?"[251]
Reince Priebus, 3:09 p.m.: "TELL THEM TO GO HOME !!!"[252]
Unknown, 3:13 p.m.: "POTUS should go on air and defuse this. Extremely important."[253]
Alyssa Farah, 3:13 p.m.: "Potus has to come out firmly and tell protestors to dissipate. Someone is going to get killed …"[254]
Representative Chip Roy, 3:25 p.m.: "Fix this now."[255] Meadows responded: "We are." [256]
Sean Hannity (Fox News), 3:31 p.m.: "Can he make a statement. I saw the tweet. Ask people to peacefully leave the capital [sic]."[257] Meadows responded: "On it."[258]
Katrina Pierson, 3:40 p.m.: "Note: I was able to keep the crazies off the stage. I stripped all branding of those nutty groups and removed videos of all of the psychos. Glad it [sic] fought it."[259]
Unknown, 3:42 p.m.: "Pls have POTUS call this off at the Capitol. Urge rioters to disperse. I pray to you."[260]
Unknown, 3:57 p.m.: "Is he coming out?" "He has to right?"[261]
Brian Kilmeade, 3:58 p.m. (Fox News): "Please get him on tv. Destroying every thing you guys have accomplished."[262]
Donald Trump, Jr., 4:05 p.m.: "We need an oval address. He has to lead now. It's gone too far and gotten out of hand."[263]
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also situated in the West Wing, right by the briefing room.[266] The whole affair could have been assembled in minutes.[267]
However, it was not until nearly 3 hours after the violence began that President Trump finally agreed to tell the mob to go home.[268]
The Presidential Daily Diary notes that President Trump left the dining room to shoot the video at 4:03 p.m.[269] By this point—per Fox News coverage playing continually in the dining room—more law enforcement officers had arrived at the Capitol to resist the violent mob.[270]
The video shoot took place in the Rose Garden, the outdoor space that borders the Oval Office and the West Wing.[271] The setup was not ornate, just a camera and a microphone. Luna made sure that the background and lighting looked good, and that President Trump's hair and tie were in place.[272] President Trump delivered his remarks in one take, more or less, although he stopped and restarted at one point.[273] In all, the video took less than 4 minutes to shoot, and the President was back in the dining room by 4:07 p.m.[274]
"I would stick to this script . . . ," McEnany told President Trump before he stepped out to film.[275]
He didn't.
Kushner and others had drafted a statement, but President Trump spoke entirely off the cuff.[276] Here's what he said:
I know your pain. I know you're hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don't want anybody hurt. It's a very tough period of time. There's never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us, from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraudulent election. But we can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home, we love you. You're very special. You've seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel, but go home and go home in peace.[277]
A photo obtained from the National Archives shows President Trump and Herschmann huddled next to each other, watching a completed take through the monitor on the video camera.[278]
"There needs to be a more direct statement" telling the rioters to leave the Capitol, Luna heard Herschmann—yet again—tell the President.[279] Herschmann testified that he did not recall this exchange.[280]
But according to Luna, President Trump rejected the note. "These people are in pain," he said in reply.[281]
Down at the Capitol, the video began streaming onto rioters' phones, and by all accounts including video footage taken by other rioters, they listened to President Trump's command.
"Donald Trump has asked everybody to go home," one rioter shouted as he "deliver[ed] the President's message." "That's our order," another rioter responded. Others watching the video responded: "He says, go home."[282]
The crowd afterward began to disperse.[283] The video made clear what had been evident to many, including those closest to him: The President could have called off the rioters far earlier and at any point that day.[284] But he chose not to do so.[285]
It was not until it was obvious that the riot would fail to stop the certification of the vote that the President finally relented and released a video statement made public at 4:17 p.m.[286]
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President Trump huddles with aides, watching a completed take of a video through the monitor of the video camera.