A fact-checker chastised Republican leaders on Friday for resurrecting allegations that President Donald Trump was not to blame for the National Guard’s non-appearance during last year’s insurgency on Jan. 6.
Trump has repeatedly criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for obstructing the deployment of roughly 10,000 National Guard personnel on that day. In the District of Columbia, however, Pelosi has no authority over the National Guard. Trump fulfills this requirement.
Trump’s assertions that he called out the Guard and Pelosi barred them from defending the Capitol have been contradicted by several media sites, including USA Today, The Washington Post, and CNN.
Trump boasted that he “quickly dispatched the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building” in a videotaped statement a day after the 2021 uprising.
Republicans attacked Pelosi for obstructing the Guard once more on Thursday. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) instead criticized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump watched the riot on television at the White House as the carnage raged for three hours throughout the Capitol. He made no attempt to call anyone who could help safeguard the building or the legislators who were stuck inside.
“Not only did President Trump refuse to tell the mob to leave the Capitol, but he did not place any call to any element of the United States government to instruct that the Capitol be defended,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) revealed Thursday night during the first hearing of the House select committee, which convened on Jan. 6.
“On January 6, he didn’t call his Defense Secretary.” He refused to speak with his Attorney General. He didn’t speak with the Department of Homeland Security,” Cheney continued. “On that particular day, President Trump did not issue an order for the National Guard to be deployed. He also made no attempt to coordinate and deploy law enforcement assets with the Department of Justice.”
Videotaped testimony from Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, which was aired at the hearing, backed up her claims. He claimed that Vice President Mike Pence, who was under attack at the moment, was the one who that the National Guard be brought in.
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“Get the Guard down here, but this situation down,” Pence instructed Pentagon officers, according to Milley. Later, the general claimed, he received a call from then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who urged him to “destroy the notion that the vice president makes all the choices.”
Republicans are sure to return to the National Guard issue because Trump’s complete lack of action for hours to safeguard the Capitol and lawmakers would appear to bolster the case the Jan. 6 panel is constructing against him, suggesting he was out to rig the election and stay in power.
To safeguard the area, tens of thousands of National Guard men were dispatched.
