Four years after President Donald Trump helped incite a mob to storm the Capitol to block the certification of the 2020 election he lost, he took aim at his political enemies — including the select panel that investigated the violent event.
Trump promised the crowd in the inauguration’s “overflow room” in the Capitol Visitors Center, following his formal inaugural remarks in the Rotunda: “You’re going to see a lot of action on J6 hostages.”
He has floated pardoning the rioters, many of whom are facing formal criminal charges.
Trump also took aim at the last-minute pardons and commutations President Joe Biden issued in his final hours in office, including those who served on a select committee tasked with looking into the role Trump played in circumventing the 2020 election results that culminated in the riots at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump called former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the former top Republican on the select panel, a “crying lunatic,” and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who did not receive a pardon from Biden, “guilty as hell.”
He also claimed again, without evidence, that the 2020 election was rigged against him.
Trump had been giving what appeared to be unscripted remarks to supporters who hadn’t been able to join in-person for the main inaugural event in the Capitol Rotunda given space constraints, once the celebration was moved indoors due to extreme cold weather.
The cavernous main room of the Capitol Visitor Center had been converted into an overflow space, where some celebrities, governors, foreign dignitaries, congressional spouses and other VIPs were relegated. Trump received a warm welcome from an audience that included Govs. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia and Ron DeSantis of Florida; internet personalities like Theo Von and Jake and Logan Paul; New York Mayor Eric Adams; and former Arizona governor and Senate candidate Kari Lake.
