There is some beautiful symmetry in the fact that the Trump presidency began with him complaining about the official count in the crowd size at the inauguration and adamantly asserting that his crowd was the biggest ever and certainly bigger than Obama’s, and he left the presidency, in some ways, talking about crowd sizes way back, almost a year ago now. The number he brings up is always above 100,000.
We have seen what over 100,000 people looks like. Trump is the opposite of Martin Luther King, in more ways than one.
But it is fascinating hearing him talk about that day and how the conversation has shifted. It is hard to remember, but prior to the rally and in the initial period after, Trump spoke at what they called a “protest,” organized by others. Indeed, they did not even announce that Trump was going to speak until a relatively short period prior to the “protest.”
In fact, if you recall, throughout the second impeachment, the defense argued that Trump spoke at a protest and then the protesters got somewhat out of hand, but Trump had nothing to do with inciting them, or even why they were there. It has been interesting hearing the narrative change as more and more people publicly acknowledge that the White House was involved in planning the event.
Yesterday, Nigel Farage, the far-right British pol who was the first British figure to meet Trump after his election, interviewed Trump. Nigel asked a ridiculous question that led to ridiculous answers.
“Was it a mistake to have that rally on that day?”
Trump never ever makes mistakes. Under no circumstances was Trump going to acknowledge a mistake. But within the last week or two, as we’ve heard more evidence come out (burner phones and that Meadows will be talking) Trump tries to put some distance between himself and the fact that it took place at all:
“Well, you know, I didn’t have — that was a rally that was there,”
Translated to English: “My campaign didn’t officially plan that event, it was a protest already set and so don’t ask me about mistakes as to whether to hold it. I had nothing to do with the decision.” From the evidence we’ve heard released, that is an outright lie. Marjorie Taylor-Greene videotaped herself coming out of the White House in late December saying she attended a meeting to plan the protest on January 6th.
But, then – of course, that wasn’t enough, Trump then went on to brag that it turned into something huge, beyond imagination, all because he chose to speak.
And if you look, it was a massive rally with hundreds of hundreds of thousands of people. I think it was the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken before,
“But if you would’ve looked at the crowd’s size — nobody wants to talk about that. I believe it was the biggest and most people I ever — and I’ve spoken to very big crowds. I have never spoken in front of a crowd that size — nobody ever talks about that,”
Is it possible that no one really talks about that because within 90 minutes after he was done speaking we had the closest thing we’d ever had to a coup in this country? Is it possible that it’s because it doesn’t matter? Is it possible that it’s because it wasn’t that large?
“And then, unfortunately, some bad things happened. But also, the other side had some bad things happen,”
He is, of course, referring to the 2020 riots, which did not involve the government and were not done intentionally by “the other side.”
Unbelievable, and yet totally believable. Crowd size.
In new interview, Trump was asked if he regretted J6. He said the “real insurrection” was on Election Day and J6 was just a protest, that nobody gives him credit for drawing so many people to hear him speak that day, and “the other side had some very bad things happen.” pic.twitter.com/z8pnx0aFXV
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 2, 2021
Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest as a dual Canadian-American citizen, which he grows increasingly thankful for every day. He now enjoys life as a single dad, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast, getting advice from his beloved daughter and teammate. He is very much the dreamy mystic that cannot add and loves dogs more than most people. He also likes studying cooking, theoretical physics, cosmology, and quantum mechanics. He likes pizza.
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