April 19, 2024

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Trump canceled a press conference at the Jan. 6 anniversary ceremony at the urging of advisers

In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, the former president confirmed that he would no longer hold a press conference at his Ocean Front club and would instead express his grievances at a campaign-style rally in Arizona. In anticipation of those complaints, Trump blasted the House committee currently investigating the events leading up to the January 6 riots in Washington, accusing the media of aiding the Democrats in the group, the “crime of the century.”

“This is a big cover-up of the Democrats and the media,” Trump said.

A person familiar with the situation told CNN that Trump had decided to drop the event because the media was not interested in showing it live on Thursday. Had the former president gone to a news conference, he would have competed in the American Capitol with a series of tragic tributes organized by Congress Democrats. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are also scheduled to comment Thursday.

The same source said that despite all the major news networks not being there, Trump was slowly realizing that he was not going to take his press conference live or send their top reporters to Palm Beach.

The former president faced pressure from outside advisers and Republican lawmakers to cancel the news conference and instead have a lower profile on Thursday.

A person familiar with the situation said that “many of the comments he received were negative”, adding that some Trump allies told the former president that his press conference would divert Democrats’ attention. Unpopular with Americans. ”

“I think he realized this was the thing that would work best in a rally with his supporters,” the man said.

A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

South Carolina Sen. last weekend. During a golf tour with Lindsay Graham, Trump reportedly came up with the idea of ​​canceling a press conference that caused Republicans to fear what he would say. Graham, who maintains a close relationship with the former president, told the Wall Street Journal that Trump urged him to continue canceling because “the reverse of a news conference is too small.”

“It will be an event that will not infiltrate the way you want and focus on electoral reform. Your hand is getting stronger day by day,” he recalled telling Trump.

The House Select Committee on January 6 has already met with several Trump allies, campaign aides and former White House staffers. Congress a year ago. Two Trump allies – former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows – have been subjected to criminal contempt by the council for refusing to cooperate with investigators after the trial.

On January 6, during the riots in the Capitol, much of the information gathered by the panel so far about the length of Trump’s top allies and his own members sheds new light on how the former president behaved behind the scenes. The family went on to publicly condemn the violent protesters and divert his attention from the 2020 election.