Donald Trump edited his January 6 rally remarks and improvised violent lines to add pressure on then-Vice President Mike Pence in his efforts to get Mr Pence to try to overturn the election, the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection has said.
“The President did go on stage and then he gave the speech that he wanted to give,” Florida Democrat Stephanie Murphy said during the hearing on Tuesday. “It included the formal changes he had requested the night before and on that morning, but also many important last-minute ad-libbed changes.”
“A single scripted reference in the speech to Mike Pence became eight. A single scripted reference to rallygoers marching to the Capitol became four, with President Trump ad-libbing that he would be joining the protesters at the Capitol,” she added. “Added throughout his speech were references to fighting and ... courage and to be strong. The word ‘peacefully’ was in the staff-written script and used only once.”
“You’re never going to take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength and you have to be strong,” Mr Trump said in his ad-libbed remarks on January 6. “So I hope Mike has the courage to do what he has to do. And I hope he doesn’t listen to the RINOs and the stupid people that he’s listening to.”
“We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he added. “But we’re going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones – because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re just going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”
Trump speechwriter Stephen Miller said that White House lawyer Eric Herschmann told him that he wanted the lines singling out Mr Pence removed from the speech. But after it was removed, the speechwriters were ordered to “reinsert the Pence lines”.
