Trump at Iowa event says Jan. 6 participants acted ‘patriotically and peacefully’

Campaigning in Iowa on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection, former President Donald Trump said that those who attacked the Capitol acted “patriotically and peacefully,” as he called for supporters to help him win reelection against President Joe Biden in 2024.

The former president spoke in Newton Saturday afternoon at a campaign event, with another event scheduled in Clinton for 5 p.m. the same day. It was one of multiple stops across Iowa Trump has planned in the final days before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, as he aims to secure the top spot in the first-in-the-nation contest.

Though Trump leads by a wide margin in national and Iowa polls, rivals for the Republican nomination say that his court battles could keep him from winning in a rematch against Biden. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear arguments on whether Trump can appear on the Colorado primary ballot, following the Colorado Supreme Court decision that found him ineligible under the 14th Amendment — a Civil War-era provision that prohibits people who “engaged in insurrection” from running for federal office.

Witnesses in the Colorado case argued that Trump played a “role in orchestrating, inciting and preserving the attack on the Capitol,” while Trump’s legal team argued that he did not engage in action on Jan. 6, and disputed the event being categorized as an insurrection.

Trump, who faces criminal charges in a federal case tied to Jan. 6 as well as allegations of attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, criticized his legal prosecutors and the congressional committee that investigated the Capitol insurrection. The federal justice system was being unfairly used to persecute him and supporters, Trump told the Iowa crowd, referring to people arrested and prosecuted for their actions on Jan. 6 as “hostages.”

“You get indicted once or twice if you kill people, but then you get put in jail so you don’t get indicted after that … If you are a certain person, you don’t even get in trouble if you do, okay,” Trump said. “But if you’re with us, they put you in jail. Look at what’s happened with the J6 hostages. The hostages — That’s a horrible thing.”

According to The Associated Press, more than 1,230 individuals have been charged with federal crimes in connection with the attack on the Capitol.

The GOP front-runner also said that Democrats were attempting to distract voters from issues along the U.S. southern border, and said that other countries are sending people from mental health treatment facilities and jails to the United States.

“You talk about insurrection? That’s the real deal,” he said. “Not patriotically and peacefully.”

While some candidates like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson have criticized Trump for his involvement in Jan. 6, higher-profile contenders for the GOP nomination like former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have largely avoiding talking about the subject.

Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has said that he plans to withdraw from primary ballots that prohibit Trump from participating and called for other Republicans to join him. But Ramaswamy also said he believes that Republicans need to elect a different nominee, because “the system’s making increasingly clear they’re not going to let him get anywhere near the finish line.”

“We shouldn’t fall into that trap,” Ramaswamy said.

During his nearly two-hour speech, Trump also brought up topics ranging from his plans to “build a giant dome over our country” for national security to his thoughts on the Civil War — saying that it could have been “negotiated” out, resulting in fewer deaths.

He also told Iowans that he plans to caucus — despite not being an Iowa resident. Only Iowa residents registered as Republican voters can participate in the GOP presidential caucuses.

“I’m going to caucus, okay, I’m going to caucus,” Trump told the crowd, cheering. “That’s how important it is. We have to, we have to do it.”

He said that his campaign will be picking “some nice location” in Iowa to visit on Jan. 15, likely referring to plans to visit precinct caucus locations on caucus night. Trump encouraged first-time caucusgoers to participate, saying that he would be learning about how to caucus alongside them.

“If you’re a first-time caucusgoer, you can learn how to caucus — and I’m gonna have to learn too, by the way, I haven’t done this before,” Trump said. “But now they’re gonna teach me. I’m a quick study, and so are you.”