Tear gas is released into a crowd of protesters, with one wielding a Confederate battle flag that reads “Come and Take It,” during clashes with Capitol police at a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday canceled an event billed as a press conference that was set to be held on the first anniversary of the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump had reportedly planned to defend the rioters during that event, which was going to be held at his golf club Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump after losing to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election has repeatedly spread the lie that the race was rigged against him though widespread fraud. On Jan. 6, hundreds of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol and forced Congress into hiding, delaying the confirmation of Biden’s win.
Trump in recent months has defended rioters who had chanted about hanging then-Vice President Mike Pence, who rebuffed Trump’s push for him to challenge the Electoral College results.
In a statement Tuesday evening, the former president said he was canceling the event due to “the total bias and dishonesty” of the media and the House select committee investigating Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 attack.
Instead, Trump vowed to discuss the same “important topic” at a rally in Arizona set for Jan. 15.
The select committee, tasked with investigating the facts and causes of the Jan. 6 riot, has issued dozens of subpoenas to Trump’s current and former associates.
The panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., told CNN on Tuesday that investigators want to speak directly with Pence.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
