Hi there,

If you think Democracy Now!’s reporting is a critical line of defense against war, climate catastrophe and authoritarianism, please make your donation of $10 or more right now. Today, a generous donor will DOUBLE your donation, which means it’ll go 2x as far to support our independent journalism. Democracy Now! is funded by you, and that’s why we’re counting on your donation to keep us going strong. Please give today. Every dollar makes a difference—in fact, gets doubled! Thank you so much.
-Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Trump Praises Jan. 6 Rioters, Touts “Big Lie” and Mocks E. Jean Carroll in Unhinged Town Hall

HeadlineMay 11, 2023

Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday he intends to pardon many of the January 6 insurrectionists who’ve been convicted on felony charges, including seditious conspiracy. Trump made the remarks during a primetime event in New Hampshire hosted by CNN, where he called January 6, 2021, “a beautiful day.”

Donald Trump: “They were there proud. They were there with love in their heart. That was an unbelievable, and it was a beautiful day.”

During the 70-minute broadcast, Trump also falsely claimed the 2020 election was “rigged”; defended his family separation policy at the U.S. southern border; called on schools to harden their defenses against mass shooters and said he’d push to arm teachers; and endorsed a U.S. default on its debt, saying, “We might as well do it now.” Trump called CNN host Kaitlan Collins a “nasty person” as she questioned him about his mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort. And Trump mocked writer E. Jean Carroll after a jury on Tuesday found he sexually abused her in the 1990s, then defamed her by branding her a liar.

CNN’s decision to host Trump drew condemnation. Former D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, who was beaten and tased by the right-wing mob who attacked the Capitol on January 6, wrote in Rolling Stone magazine, “Donald Trump tried to end American democracy. Why is CNN throwing him a rehabilitation party?”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top