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Lydia is a HuffPost senior reporter in her hometown of San Francisco and a graduate of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Journalism. She has worked at HuffPost since 2013, when she was selected for that year's class of editorial fellows.
While speaking to the news media Thursday outside his Mar-a-Lago club and residence in Florida, the likely Republican presidential nominee rattled off an impressive number of lies about the deadly riot by Trump supporters in a matter of minutes.
One of the most easily disproved bits of fiction he threw out is that “there were no guns” among the rioters. In reality, multiple people who stormed the Capitol were carrying firearms. Rioters haveThis is a lie Trump has peddled before, going so far as to call the riotTrump used that falsehood Thursday to denounce Capitol police officers for taking action against the mob. “So unnecessary, so sad, so horrible,” he said of the officers who were protecting lawmakers as they met to officially certify the 2020 Electoral College count two weeks beforeTrump didn’t stop there. He also claimed that it was “very shortly after” the riot that he sent out a recording of a speech from the White House Rose Garden intended to stop the violence. In reality, it was more than two hours after the rioters breached the Capitol building before Trump released his remarks telling his followers that they had “to go home now,” adding “We love you. You’re very special.” Supporters of then-President Donald Trump listen to his infamous speech before the Jan. 6, 2021, riot."We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," he told them.According to findings from the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot and the plots to overturn the 2020 election, Trump spent those hoursand ignoring pleas from fellow Republicans and his daughter Ivanka to intervene. In one of his more head-scratching claims Thursday, Trump tried to lay the blame on one of the rioters’ top targets. “I think it was an insurrection caused by Nancy Pelosi,” Trump declared before qualifying it with: “if it was an insurrection.”This is obviously false. Then-House Speaker Pelosi did not incite hundreds of Trump’s supporters to storm her place of work, break into her office and threaten her life. Footage from that day shows a rioter walking through the halls of Congress yelling, “Nancy Pelosi! Where you at, Nancy? Nancy! Where are you, Nancy? We’re looking for you!” While rioters were battling police officers to break into the Capitol, security personnel were removing Pelosi from the House chamber and taking her to a secure location for her safety. While in hiding, she played a key role in communicating with other top government officials about securing her colleagues’ safety. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Trump also cherry-picked lines from his speech leading up to the riot in an effort to prove he didn’t call for violence. “I said peacefully and patriotically. The speech was called peacefully and patriotically. It’s peacefully and patriotically,” Trump reiterated multiple times. He did use that phrase once in his Jan. 6 speech, telling his supporters: “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”“We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he told his supporters as he wrapped up his remarks. “You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong,” he also said.over a Colorado court’s decision to declare Trump ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot because he’d incited an insurrection. The decision cited a clause of the 14th Amendment that says anyone who took an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution but then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the country may not hold state or federal office.At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone. Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall. Would you join us to help keep our stories free for all? Your contribution of as little as $2 will go a long way. As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to having well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls. We cannot do this without your help. Support our newsroom by contributing as little as $2 to keep our news free for all. As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. 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