Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol/Chapter 7/Section 7.9
7.9 “THE PRESIDENT NEEDS TO STOP THIS ASAP”
President Trump’s 2:38 p.m. tweet did not condemn the violence at the Capitol. It did not tell rioters to leave the building.
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Testimony footage of former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is played during a January 6th Select Committee hearing.
In the minutes before the tweet, Fox News—on the President's screen—relayed that the Capitol was on lockdown;[220] that Capitol police officers were injured; that rioters were in the building and "just feet from the House chamber."[221] In the minutes afterward, networks would report there was tear gas in the Capitol, forcing Members of Congress to evacuate in protective masks.[222] At 2:39 p.m., Secret Service agents reported that "[m]ore just got in."[223]
"I don't know how they're gonna retake the Capitol building back at this point," one agent wrote to others two minutes later.[224]
At 2:44 p.m., a Capitol police officer shot a rioter named Ashli Babbitt.[225] A handwritten note—dashed off onto a White House pocket card and preserved by the National Archives—read: "1x civilian gunshot wound to chest @ door of House cha[m]ber."[226] One White House employee saw the note on the dining table in front of President Trump.[227] A barrage of text messages inundated Meadows's phone with a consistent plea.[228] Everyone from conservative media personalities to Republican allies in Congress—and even the President’s own family—urged the President to do more:
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, 2:28 p.m.: "Mark I was just told there is an active shooter on the first floor of the Capitol Please tell the President to calm people[.] This isn't the way to solve anything."[229]
Laura Ingraham, 2:32 p.m.: "Hey Mark, The [sic] president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home." "This is hurting all of us." "He is destroying his legacy and playing into every stereotype … we lose all credibility against the BLM/Antifa crowd if things go South." "You can tell him I said this."[230]
Mick Mulvaney, 2:35 p.m.: "Mark: he needs to stop this, now. Can I do anything to help?"[231]
Representative Barry Loudermilk, 2:44 p.m.: "It's really bad up here on the hill." "They have breached the Capitol."[232] At 2:48 p.m., Meadows responded: "POTUS is engaging."[233] At 2:49 p.m., Loudermilk responded: "Thanks. This doesn't help our cause."[234]
Representative William Timmons, 2:46 p.m.: "The president needs to stop this ASAP."[235] At 2:49 p.m., Meadows responded: "We are doing it."[236]
Donald Trump, Jr., 2:53 p.m.: "He's got to condem [sic] this shit. Asap. The captiol [sic] police tweet is not enough."[237] Meadows responded: "I am pushing it hard. I agree."[238] Later, Trump, Jr., continued: "This his [sic] one you go to the mattresses on. They will try to fuck his entire legacy on this if it gets worse."[239]
White House staff discussed issuing yet another, stronger statement to address the ongoing—and escalating—violence. Around 3:00 p.m., one proposal was written in block capital letters on a pocket card from the chief of staff's office:
ANYONE WHO ENTERED THE CAPITOL
ILLEGALLYWITHOUT PROPER AUTHORITY SHOULD LEAVE IMMEDIATELY[.][240]
The handwriting appears to have been scrawled quickly and somewhat messily. Hutchinson recalled Meadows returning from the dining room with the note in hand and placing it on her desk.[241] The word "illegally" had been newly crossed out.[242]
But there would be no further action, Meadows told her.[243]
At 3:13 p.m., 35 minutes after his last tweet, the President issued another tweet. Rather than coming out with a stronger statement, the 3:13 p.m. tweet largely parroted the one preceding it:
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I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order—respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you![244]
Ivanka Trump—who was in the room when her father published the message—told the Select Committee that "the gravity of the situation" made her feel “that it would be helpful to tweet again."[245] "The [earlier] tweet didn't stop the violence," Herschmann said.[246] This tweet—like the last one—didn't tell the rioters to go home. It suggested that they "remain" at the Capitol, albeit peacefully.