Former President Donald Trump refused to declare the 2020 election was over in a rehearsed national TV address condemning the Capitol rioters a day after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack.
In video outtakes aired Thursday by the House Jan. 6 committee, Mr. Trump was urged by his staff, including daughter Ivanka, to say that Congress had certified the election and the election was “over.”
“I don’t want to say that the election is over,” Mr. Trump said.
The former president also got angry, upon a line saying his goal was to protect the “integrity of the vote.”
Mr. Trump slammed his hand on the podium, after saying that line.
The committee also said Mr. Trump gave the national address on Jan. 7 because he was being threatened by members of his own administration with removal from office as unfit under the 25th
Amendment.
The panel played an audio recording of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, saying he believed Mr. Trump should resign after the riot or face possible removal under the 25th Amendment.
“I’ve had it with this guy,” Mr. McCarthy said. “It would be my recommendation that he resign..”
The panel’s Thursday hearing focused on the 187 minutes that Mr. Trump was absent and failed to take any action while the riot was taking place.
