Donald J. Trump amplified a conspiracy theory that the federal government had staged the Capitol attack and compared jailed rioters to Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II.
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Rioters storm the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.
Donald J. Trump on Friday tried to revise the history of the deadly attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, as new details in the federal prosecution against him were made public by the judge in the case.
His attempt to recast the events of Jan. 6, 2021, came on the same day that he compared his supporters who were arrested, convicted and imprisoned for their actions at the Capitol to the victims of the Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II. And it followed a recent remark in which Mr. Trump declared Jan. 6 a day of “love.”
The former president made his comments about Jan. 6 and its aftermath at a time when, just weeks before Election Day, uncommitted voters in battleground states tell pollsters that among their top concerns is that they view him as a threat to democracy.
On Friday, on his website Truth Social, Mr. Trump amplified a conspiracy theory that the attack on the Capitol was staged by the federal government, and he promoted his false claims that widespread fraud cost him the 2020 election.
He reposted a meme that a user had originally posted on Thursday, which read: “January 6 will go down in history as the day the government staged a riot to cover up the fact that they certified a fraudulent election.” Those words appeared over two images of people swarming the outside of the Capitol building that day and waving American flags.
Earlier on Friday, on a podcast hosted by the conservative media figure Dan Bongino, Mr. Trump lamented how those arrested in connection with the attack have been treated.
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Source: nytimes.com
