Based on testimony from former Trump administration official Cassidy Hutchinson on Tuesday, it’s now clear that failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump wanted to see his vice president, Mike Pence, and members of Congress “killed or taken hostage” according to presidential historian Michael Beschloss.
During an appearance on MSNBC Wednesday morning, Beschloss noted:
“Everything that [Richard] Nixon did in the 1970s is put in the shade by what we have seen here. Nixon didn’t send armed terrorists up to the Capitol, and by everything that we are learning now what Donald Trump wanted to see on the 6th of January was violence. There’s every sign that he wanted to see members of Congress shot or killed or taken hostage, including his vice president, who, of course, is the president of the Senate.”
Beschloss added:
“Have we ever seen a president do 100th of that in the whole history of the United States? Historically, every other president is in one category. Donald Trump is in a category of his own.”
Consider a few more of the things Hutchinson revealed on Tuesday during her two hours of testimony, courtesy of New York magazine:
She said Trump was furious with his security officials, and she overheard him saying, “I don’t f- – -ing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me.” Later, she said that Trump wanted them to march to the Capitol after his speech.
Previous witnesses had told the January 6 committee that Trump had been saying he wanted to march to the Capitol with his supporters in the weeks leading up to the rally, but Hutchinson revealed that Trump actually tried to go as soon as he finished his speech calling on the thousands assembled before him to march there. Trump boarded a vehicle with the Secret Service, thinking he was being taken to the Capitol.
As we’ve seen many times before, Donald Trump demands loyalty from others, but will toss anyone (even family) under the bus when it suits his purposes. That’s just plain evil.
Here’s Michael Beschloss on MSNBC:
