In a Newsmax interview on Tuesday, President Donald Trump signaled that he is open to the idea of compensating individuals who attacked the U.S. Capitol building on his behalf on January 6, 2021.
The hundreds of Trump loyalists who took part in the violent breach of the building that day sought to disrupt congressional proceedings to certify the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to former President Joe Biden. Trump had riled up the crowd moments before the breach, instructing his followers to march to the building and “show strength,” and telling them that they “will never take back our country with weakness.”
Earlier this year, Trump pardoned those who took part in the attack, an action that most Americans disagreed with. In his interview on Tuesday, Newsmax host Greg Kelly brought up the possibility of providing those who were imprisoned or convicted of crimes relating to the breach with financial compensation.
Trump said there was “a lot of talk about that” and that he was open to the idea, but did not elaborate on whether the White House was actively pursuing such a policy.
“A lot of the people that are in the government now talk about it because a lot of the people in government really like that group of people,” he added.
Trump then described those who took part in the January 6 melee as “peaceful” and “patriotic.” He also praised Ashli Babbitt, a Trump loyalist who was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer during the attack after she tried to force her way through a window.
Notably, providing compensation to January 6 participants would contradict the Trump administration’s “Department of Government Efficiency” agenda, creating additional spending in spite of the department’s stated goal of reducing deficit spending. A proposal to compensate Trump loyalists who attacked the Capitol would also likely be unpopular, as previous polling has shown that the vast majority of Americans opposed Trump’s pardons of his loyalists earlier this year.
In a Truthout op-ed in February, Sasha Abramsky, a freelance journalist and part-time lecturer at the University of California at Davis, noted that the pardons opened the door for the potential of more violence in support of Trump’s policies, which the president would likely welcome.
Abramsky said that such violence wouldn’t just come from everyday supporters of Trump, but also from Trump-backing police officers who will “further align themselves with right-wing paramilitaries, and essentially give white nationalist and other extremist subcultures within law enforcement and the military a green light to expand their influence even further.”
“By pardoning the January 6 insurrectionists, the president has effectively condoned those who commit violence on his behalf — making it that much more likely that MAGA goon squads, responding to the unstated but clear desires of a president-cum-despot, will target their political enemies in the years to come,” Abramsky added.
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