Former President Donald Trump called Jan. 6, 2021, a “day of love” after a Republican voter criticized him over his lack of action during the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Ramiro Gonzalez, a voter at a Univision town hall, said former members of Mr. Trump’s White House team no longer support him, so he wanted to know why he should.
He challenged the former president, particularly, on Jan. 6, when Mr. Trump’s supporters stormed Congress while lawmakers tried to certify the 2020 election.
“They came because of the election. They thought the election was a rigged election, that’s why they came,” Mr. Trump said. “Some of those people went down to the Capitol. I said, ‘peacefully and patriotically.’ Nothing done wrong, at all, nothing done wrong.”
“Action was taken, strong action. Ashli Babbitt was killed, nobody was killed,” Mr. Trump said, a remark that caused one woman in the audience to sit up straight with a confused look on her face.
Mr. Trump said the people who walked to the Capitol were a “tiny percentage” of the supporters he addressed at the Ellipse near the White House before the attack.
“That was a day of love from the standpoint of the millions — it’s like, hundreds of thousands — it could have been the largest group I’ve ever spoken before,” Mr. Trump said.
The former president attended the Univision town hall to court Latino voters. His Jan. 6 response went viral online.
Mr. Trump faces a pair of criminal indictments for his actions following the 2020 election, though the cases have been delayed and some of the charges against him were dismissed.
Former Vice President Mike Pence and other allies disavowed Mr. Trump following the Jan. 6 attack, saying they could no longer support him.
Mr. Trump says he never directed his supporters to do anything violent and has blamed then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others for the riot, saying they failed to secure the Capitol. He is statistically tied with Vice President Kamala Harris heading into Election Day.
“All I want is honest elections,” Mr. Trump told the Univision voters.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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