Donald Trump reaffirmed his pledge to pardon his supporters who were involved in the early 2021 attack on the US Capitol in his first in-person televised news interview since winning a second term in November.
After riding voters’ complaints about rising prices back to the White House at the expense of Vice President Kamala Harris, he also reaffirmed his promises of mass deportations and tariffs, which he acknowledged could result in higher costs for Americans, in an interview with Kristen Welker of NBC’s Meet the Press.
I’m going to move fast. In the interview, Trump said that convicted Capitol attackers had gone through a “very nasty system” on the first day.
Trump, who was found guilty in May by New York state authorities of unlawfully fabricating business records to hide hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, claimed to be familiar with the method. The system is extremely rotten.
According to Trump, there might be some exceptions to his pardons for the Capitol attack, which was meant to keep him in the White House after Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 presidential election and was connected to several fatalities, including the suicides of traumatized law enforcement officers.
He made reference to previously refuted claims that anti-Trump law enforcement had infiltrated the ranks of his fans and incited the assault.
Trump claimed they had no option when questioned about the Capitol assailants who attacked police officers. Additionally, he asserted that people were coerced into entering guilty pleas.
Trump criticized the outgoing president’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, on charges of tax cheating and lying on gun ownership registration forms, saying that their entire lives had been wrecked. They’ve been ruined.
Federal criminal charges against Trump were later dropped as he denied ordering his second administration’s appointees to arrest elected officials implicated in the US Capitol attack probe. However, he made it a point to inform Welker: To be honest, they ought to be put in jail.
In connection with the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, over 1,250 persons have been found guilty or entered guilty pleas. At least 645 individuals have received prison sentences that range from a few days to 22 years.
One of the Capitol assailants, Philip Sean Grillo of New York City, made fun of the federal court overseeing his case during his sentence on Friday, saying, “Trump is going to pardon me anyhow.”
Grillo was ordered to be arrested right away and given a one-year prison sentence.
In a trial held in November, Edward Kelley of Tennessee, another convicted attacker, was found guilty of conspiring to kill federal employees.
He had made a list of authorities he wanted to assassinate for looking into him in relation to the Capitol attack, jurors discovered.
Trump reaffirmed his plan to apply tariffs to imports from several of the biggest trading partners of the United States in other segments of his interview on Sunday. “I could not guarantee that my plan would not result in higher costs for US families,” he said.
Additionally, he reaffirmed his refusal to recognize Biden’s just defeat in the 2020 election, asserting that he defeated Harris in November because the contest was too significant to rig.
Welker asked Trump on his intentions to deport large numbers of people, particularly mixed-status families.
According to Trump, legal immigrants in the US were in danger if they had relatives who were not authorized to be there.
According to Trump, the best way to avoid severing families is to keep them together and send them all back. He said, “I don’t want to be breaking up families.”
In order to safeguard Dreamers—those who have been in the country for years after coming as undocumented children—he did say that he was somewhat in favor of working with Democrats.
He did, however, pledge to work toward removing birthright citizenship and claimed that he would think about changing the US Constitution to achieve this.
“We must put an end to it,” Trump said.
After claiming to have ideas during his one-on-one discussion with Harris, Welker also questioned Trump about if he had a complete plan to reform healthcare.
In part, Trump said, “We have ideas for a better plan.”
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Eliot Pierce is a dedicated writer for ChiefsFocus.com, covering local crime and finance news. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, Eliot aims to provide his readers with clear and insightful analysis, helping them navigate the complexities of their financial lives while staying informed about important local events. His commitment to delivering accurate and engaging content makes him a valuable resource for the community.