By Steve Neavling
Former President Trump said in a taped interview that he “would’ve been very well received” if he went to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but that the Secret Service prevented him from going.
CNN played audio from the March 2021 interview for ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl’s book, Tired of Winning.
Trump also boasted about the size of the crowd when he gave a controversial speech before the riot.
“If you look at the real size of that crowd, it was never reported correctly. There were— it’s the biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken in front of by far. By far.”
When Karl said, “You told them you were going to go up to the Capitol,” Trump responded, “I was going to and then Secret Service said you can’t, and then by the time— I would have, and then when I get back, I saw— I wanted to go back. I was thinking about going back during the problem to stop the problem, doing it myself. Secret Service didn’t like that idea too much.”
Trump added, “And I could have done that, and you know what? I would have been very well received. Don’t forget, the people that went to Washington that day, in my opinion, they went because they thought the election was rigged. That’s why they went.”
After airing the audio, CNN anchor Erin Burnett said that CNN’s legal analysts consider the audio to be “highly valuable evidence for the prosecution” against Trump and that it “likely will be part of the trial.”
