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Trump was scheduled to speak at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on April 20, 2024, but supporters of former President Donald Trump were asked to move to shelters as a storm approached. There is.
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Two different rallies supporting Donald Trump created a dangerous situation, but generated two very different reactions from the former president.
On Saturday, shortly before a rally was scheduled to begin in Wilmington, North Carolina, President Trump called from his private jet to inform supporters who remained at the outdoor event that he was canceling, citing the threat of severe weather. There is a certain danger to all of this. ” President Trump, who broadcast a message over the rally’s loudspeaker, added, “More than anything, I want to ensure everyone’s safety,” and urged people to “leave the scene and seek shelter” immediately.
However, on January 6, 2021, Trump supporters laid siege to the Capitol, with 129 of the protesters using deadly or dangerous weapons or seriously injuring police officers trying to maintain law and order. President Trump remained silent as he was being indicted for inflicting the crime.Rather than immediately issuing a statement similar to his call to North Carolina, he made the call to North Carolina for more than three hours. For everyone’s safety, supporters should “leave the site” immediately.
Instead, as Rep. Elaine Luria, a Virginia Democrat, said during a July 2022 hearing of the bipartisan House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, “President Trump “I sat in the dining room and watched the attack unfold on TV while the president’s seniors were present.”Most of his staff, aides and family implored him to issue a statement calling on his supporters to leave immediately. Luria added: “When lives and democracy were at stake, President Trump refused to act out of a selfish desire to remain in power.”
In the face of these two events, we saw dramatically different behavior from President Trump. On Saturday, after the National Weather Service warned of dangerous winds and the possibility of hail, President Trump received the support he desperately needs to win the battleground state of North Carolina, which he narrowly won by less than 1.5 percentage points in 2020. It seemed like he was worried about someone else. President Trump immediately instructed his loyal voters to leave to avoid danger.
In contrast, on January 6, Trump said he was concerned about remaining in power despite losing the election and wanted his supporters to remain there to support his mission. . In fact, more than an hour after the brutal attack on the Capitol, which Trump “gleefully watched” on television, Trump said Pence “didn’t have the authority to do so,” according to then-White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham. ” attacked Vice President Mike Pence in a tweet declaring. The courage to do what must be done to protect our country and our Constitution. ” Former Vice Presidential National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger later described the tweet as “adding fuel to the fire.”
The committee’s investigation on Jan. 6 found that following Trump’s tweet, a crowd surged outside and inside the Capitol, which had been breached 11 minutes earlier.
Since then, President Trump has celebrated and defended the January 6th attackers. A shockingly unpatriotic example was President Trump speaking at a fundraiser he hosted at a country club to support those accused of their role in the attack.
President Trump then began the rally by asking the crowd to “stand up for the horribly wronged January 6th hostages,” followed by Trump’s imprisonment in connection with the Capitol attack. A recording of the national anthem was made by the choir of the people who died. on behalf of. And President Trump has vowed to pardon “the majority” of them “as soon as the first day” of his new term if elected in November, holding the January 6 prisoners “hostages”. He defends himself as a “patriot.” .
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Trump’s continued praise for the Jan. 6 attackers comes as Trump’s rally on Saturday showed at least one person wearing the uniform of the Proud Boys, an extremist group deeply involved in the Jan. 6 attack. That might explain why 10 men were seen outside the entrance. And that’s why one of those people felt comfortable holding a placard that said, “Free all J6 prisoners.” Several members of the Proud Boys, who President Trump instructed to “stand back” during the September 2020 presidential debate, have been convicted of felonies in connection with the January 6 attack. This includes leader Enrique Tarrio. He was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison on charges such as seditious conspiracy. The Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol on January 6 were there for Trump, which is likely why they will support him even if he returns to office.
As NBC News reported, loud groans of disappointment could be heard from the audience Saturday after President Trump told his supporters to flee due to inclement weather. But then followed their “prompt departure.” On January 6, President Trump finally released a video at 4:17 p.m. calling for “peace” and instructing his supporters to “go home now.” A little more than an hour later, the Capitol was secured.
Trump supporters clearly listen to him. You should too. Rather than listen to Trump’s words as they do, Trump’s celebration of the January 6th attackers, especially his pledge to pardon them, risks encouraging future violence by his supporters. It is important to understand that there is. And this is the person Republican voters chose as their presidential candidate in 2024.
