Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol/Chapter 7/Section 7.14
7.14 PRESIDENT TRUMP'S "RHETORIC KILLED SOMEONE"
The President may not have expressed regret over his behavior, but some of his most loyal supporters made the connection between his words and the violence.
A member of the speechwriting team, Patrick MacDonnell, conceded the next day in a text that "maybe the rhetoric could have been better."[336] As the riot was in full throttle, even steadfast supporter Ali Alexander of "Stop the Steal" texted, "POTUS is not ignorant of what his words will do."[337]
"We all look like domestic terrorists now," Hope Hicks texted Julie Radford.[338]
Separately, Hicks texted Herschmann, "So predictable and so sad."
"I know," he replied. "Tragic."
"I'm so upset. Everything we worked for wiped away," she continued.
"I agree. Totally self-inflicted," he wrote.[339]
Brad Parscale, Trump's Former Campaign Manager, texted Katrina Pierson at 7:21 p.m. on January 6th, saying the day's events were the result of a "sitting president asking for civil war."[340]
"This week I feel guilty for helping him win . . . a woman is dead," Parscale added.
"You do realize this was going to happen," Pierson answered.
"Yeah. If I was trump [sic] and knew my rhetoric killed someone," he said.
"It wasn't the rhetoric," she said.
Parscale's reply: "Yes it was."[341]