Donald Trump is seen literally unable to say he lost the 2020 election in a newly released video presented by the Jan 6 committee.
As the committee probing the attack on the US Capitol held its eighth presentation, it played video of the then president repeatedly rehearsing a speech condemning the violence, that his staff had urged him to make.
“I don’t want to say the election’s over,” Mr Trump is heard to say in an outake of a video his staff filmed on Jan 7.
Mr Trump starts his speech, saying: “To those who broke the law, you will pay you do not represent our movement you do not represent our country. “
He adds: “And if you broke the law….I can’t say that. I’m not going to.”
He then continues: “I would like to begin by addressing the heinous attack yesterday. Yesterday is a hard word for me. Take the word yesterday [out], because it doesn’t work with heinous attack on our country, say on our country.”
He adds: “I’m gonna say that my only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote. My only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote.”
Committee member, Democratic congresswoman Elaine Luria, told the hearing: “On January 7, one day after he incited an insurrection based on a lie, the President Trump still could not say the election over.”
Earlier, Sarah Matthews, a former deputy press secretary, called Jan 2021, “one of the darkest days in our nation’s history”.
Ms Matthews said because of Mr Trump’s response to the insurrection earlier in the day, she had already decided to resign, but a tweet by then-President Trump at 6:0p.m cemented her mind
“I thought that Jan. 6, 2021, was one of the darkest days in our nation’s history and President Trump was treating it as a celebratory occasion with that tweet and so it just further cemented my decision to resign,” Ms Matthews testified.
. I would like to begin by addressing the heinous attack yesterday. Yesterday is a hard word for me. Take the word yesterday, because it doesn’t work with heinous attack on our country, say on our country. I’m gonna say that my only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote. My only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote.
