Here's What Donald Trump Refused To Say About January 6

With the House committee hearings coming to a close for the season, the final summer hearing focused on former President Donald Trump's actions on January 6, 2021, the day that rioters attacked the Capitol building (via AXIOS). The riot resulted in 5 deaths and more than 100 injuries, per ABC News. The bipartisan committee is dedicated to identifying what happened during the January 6 attack and how it happened (Via The Washington Post). They are also investigating if Trump was responsible for the violence that occurred during the insurrection, by inciting his supporters to riot while Congress was certifying the 2020 election results.

According to CNN, there were 187 minutes between the start of the riot and when Trump addressed the mob, telling them to "go home now." The committee focused on the events that happened during those 187 minutes, which reportedly included Trump watching Fox News, ignoring advisers' pleas to call off the mob, and crafting tweets that inflamed the riot, according to Deadline.

Sarah Matthews, a former White House spokesperson, testified on Thursday. "[Trump's] refusal to act and call off the mob that day and his refusal to condemn the violence was indefensible," she said (via CNN). Amongst the testimonies and evidence shown during the hearing were outtakes of a Trump speech that was released January 7, 2021 and intended to condemn the events that took place the previous day. 

Some of Trump's critics are fuming over the outtakes of the speech.

One of the standout comments made by Donald Trump during the outtakes of his speech was his refusal to say that the election had concluded. In the video, Trump stopped mid-speech and said, "I don't want to say the election's over. I just want to say Congress has certified the results without saying the election's over." 

For months after the 2022 presidential election, Trump challenged the integrity of the results, which he previously called a "fraud on the American public ... an embarrassment to our country" (via CNBC). His continued denial and criticism possibly resulted in the events at the Capitol building on January 6, which the House committee is currently investigating.

Amongst his verbal blunders in the speech were other comments. "If you broke the law... I can't say that," he said when referring to the protestors who stormed the Capitol building. He also told his staff to remove the word "yesterday" from his speech, saying, "yesterday is a hard word for me."

MSNBC called Trump's actions during the events of January 6 a "choice," implying that he inflated the egos of his supporters and incited the riot. Congressman Adam Kinzinger supported this perspective and criticized Trump's inaction during the events of January 6, according to Deadline. "Donald Trump did not fail to act during the 187 minutes between leaving the Ellipse and telling the mob to go home. He chose not to act," Kinzinger said during the committee hearing.