Trump escalates solidarity with Jan. 6 rioters as his own trials close in

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/03/23/trump-jan-6-rioters-rhetoric-campaign/

https://archive.ph/cKTOC

Trump escalates solidarity with Jan. 6 rioters as his own trials close in
The presumptive Republican nominee is aligning himself with the rioters and intensifying his use of dark, graphic and at times violent language
By Marianne LeVine, Isaac Arnsdorf and Clara Ence Morse
March 23, 2024 at 10:20 a.m. EDT

Shortly after Donald Trump walked onstage at a recent rally, the voice of an announcer instructed the crowd to rise “for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6th hostages.” Trump saluted, and the loudspeakers blasted a rendition of the national anthem performed by people accused or convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump then kicked off the rally with a promise to help the defendants — a group that includes violent offenders he has glorified as “patriots” and “hostages” and pledged to pardon if he returns to power. “We’re going to be working on that the first day we get into office,” Trump said at the rally this month in Dayton, Ohio.

That vow is part of a broader renewed emphasis by Trump to align himself with Jan. 6 rioters, as he intensifies his use of dark, graphic and at times violent language as he has closed in on and secured the Republican nomination. Until November, he called the Jan. 6 defendants, some of whom have been detained by court order or are serving sentences, “political prisoners” before introducing the term “hostages,” according to a Washington Post analysis of his speeches this campaign cycle.

The analysis also showed an uptick in his references to Jan. 6 defendants, as well as the word “criminals,” which Trump has used to describe prosecutors, political opponents, the press and undocumented immigrants.

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https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/trump-kicks-off-general-election-with-dark-rhetoric-vows-to-help-jan-6-hostages-3e0e2d1a

https://archive.ph/swcFr

Trump Kicks Off General Election With Dark Rhetoric, Vows to Help Jan. 6 ‘Hostages’
Rather than pivot to the middle, presumptive GOP nominee fires up base, promises controversial pardons to Capitol rioters
By C. Ryan Barber and Alex Leary
Updated March 23, 2024 11:14 am ET

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump spent the first breaths of his first rally as a general election candidate delivering a highly-charged promise: To help the “hostages” detained for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol “the first day we get into office.”

“They were unbelievable patriots,” he said, after raising his hand in a salute as a recording played of Jan. 6 defendants singing the national anthem from jail.

At this moment, most presidential candidates would pivot to the middle to expand their support. “At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away,” Nikki Haley, Trump’s last GOP primary foe, said when she quit the race, just before he clinched the nomination. Instead, Trump has used events in recent days to sling polarizing rhetoric and feed red meat to his base. He has mocked President Biden’s stutter, called some migrants “animals” and said Jewish Democrats hate their religion and Israel.

On the campaign trail — particularly at his Ohio rally last weekend — and on social media, Trump has increasingly focused on the fates of Jan. 6 defendants. The former president has dangled the possibility of pardons in recent years, but now is vowing to take immediate steps if elected.

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