told President Trump that he saw videos on Twitter of "pro-trump people chanting on planes heading to DC," which he asked to be shared with Scavino.[496]
"We will not let them silence your voices," the President told the crowd from the podium at the Ellipse. "We're not going to let it happen, I'm not going to let it happen."[497] His supporters started chanting, "fight for Trump!" The President thanked them.[498]
President Trump knew not only that his supporters were angry, but also that some of them were armed.[499] At times, he ad-libbed, deliberately stoking their rage even more. At one point he said: "And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore."[500] The word "fight," or a variation thereof, appeared only twice in the prepared text.[501] President Trump would go on to utter the word twenty times during his speech at the Ellipse.[502]
President Trump had summoned a mob, including armed extremists and conspiracy theorists, to Washington, DC on the day the joint session of Congress was to meet. He then told that same mob to march on the U.S. Capitol and "fight." They clearly got the message.
ENDNOTES
- Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of William Barr, (June 2, 2022), p. 62.
- Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of William Barr, (June 2, 2022), pp. 27,62; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Michael Pompeo, (Aug. 9, 2022), p. 30; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Eugene Scalia, (June 30, 2022), p. 11.
- Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Eugene Scalia, (June 30, 2022), p. 11. Others throughout the White House similarly recognized that December 14 was a milestone in America’s constitutional process, and it was time for the President to move on. But it was not just members of President Trump’s Cabinet who viewed that the election was over, and that President Trump had lost by December 14—President Trump’s top advisors at the White House came to similar conclusions. For example, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone agreed with Senator McConnell’s December 15th comments on the Senate floor and viewed the process for challenging the election as “done.” See Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Pasquale Anthony “Pat” Cipollone, (July 8, 2022), p. 73. White House Deputy Press Secretary and Deputy Assistant to the President Judd Deere also recognized the significance of the electoral college vote in determining the president and vice president and conveyed this to President Trump. He also advised him to concede. See Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Deposition of Judson P. Deere, (Mar. 3, 2022), pp. 23-25. White House Advisor Ivanka Trump viewed the electoral college vote as important and had already started planning for leaving the administration prior to then. See Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Ivanka Trump, (Apr. 5, 2022), p. 193. White House Advisor Jared Kushner similarly viewed that day as “significant.” Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Transcribed Interview of Jared Kushner, (Mar. 31, 2022), p. 107.
