Trump’s Debate Answer on Jan. 6 Regrets Is Cause for Nationwide Alarm

Donald Trump, when asked point-blank during Tuesday night’s presidential debate whether he had any regrets for his actions on January 6, 2021, could not name a single one.

ABC News moderator David Muir noted in his question that Trump waited more than two hours on January 6 before delivering a video message telling rioters at the Capitol building to go home.

“Is there anything you regret about what you did on that day?” Muir asked.

Trump’s response was defiant, claiming that during his message, he told demonstrators supporting him to act “peacefully and patriotically.”

Trump also claimed that “nobody on the other side was killed. Ashli Babbitt was shot by an out of control police officer that should have never, ever shot her. It’s a disgrace.” (He apparently forgot the Capitol police officers who died.)

Muir then asked the question again, and Trump again denied any responsibility.

“I had nothing to do with that, other than they asked me to make a speech. I showed up for a speech, I said, I think it’s going to be big,” Trump replied.

Kamala Harris did not mince words in her response, noting that Trump was indicted and impeached for his actions on January 6.

Trump’s thoughts on January 6 are disturbing, as he seems to be justifying the violent mob that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election on his behalf. Invoking Ashli Babbitt is part of a years-long effort by conservatives to obscure their own responsibility for the Capitol insurrection. If Trump loses this November, his answer at Tuesday night’s debate could indicate that he’d be willing to incite another violent mob to overturn the results in his favor.

Donald Trump is trying to desperately backpedal his admission that he lost the 2020 presidential election, arguing that the game-changing statement amounted to simple sarcasm.

Last week, Trump finally admitted that he lost during an interview on the Lex Fridman podcast, where he shared that he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden “by a whisker.” The announcement sent some of his base—including January 6 rioters—into a frenzy. Some of them, including white supremacist Nick Fuentes, questioned why Trump allowed his supporters to rush headlong into insurmountable legal troubles under the cover of a lie.

“No. I don’t acknowledge that at all. I said that sarcastically,” Trump said flippantly during Tuesday night’s debate when questioned directly about the eyebrow-raising language. “Look, there’s so much proof. All you have to do is look at it, and they should have sent it back to the legislatures for approval.”

Regardless of Trump’s sudden flip-flop, Trump’s words could still hold water in his federal election interference case, with legal experts believing that the admission could be used against him.

Donald Trump went on an outrageous rant spreading dangerous racist rumors that immigrants have begun eating pets.

During the presidential debate Tuesday night, Trump couldn’t quite walk off Kamala Harris’s comment criticizing his rallies as being chaotic and boring. Moments later, Trump was asked why he killed the bipartisan border bill earlier this year. Instead of actually answering the question, Trump tried desperately to hit back, and took the opportunity to parrot false right-wing rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, had been killing and eating pets.

“People don’t leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” Trump said, clearly shaken.

Trump pivoted to a warning about World War III that soon pitched into a recitation of an outlandish and disproven theory.

“Look what’s happening to the towns,” Trump said. “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating … they’re eating the pets of the people who live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”

When ABC moderator David Muir attempted to fact-check Trump, referring to a statement from Springfield City manager Ryan Heck denying the outrageous rumors. Heck said there were “no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

“I’ve seen people on television!” Trump cried, interrupting Muir. “I’ve seen people on television say my dog was taken and used for food! So, maybe that’s a good thing to say if you’re a city manager—”

Trump continued on, and Muir repeated Heck’s statement. “We’ll see about that,” Trump replied.

“Um, talk about extreme,” Harris responded laughing.

Donald Trump got a fact-check live on air just minutes into the presidential debate on Tuesday.

Speaking on abortion, Trump spread lies for several minutes about reproductive care. The former president claimed that the governor of West Virginia allowed doctors to terminate a pregnancy not only after viability but after the baby was born.

In response to Trump’s claims, the ABC News anchor Linsey Davis gave him an embarrassing live correction.

“There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born,” she said, before quickly pivoting to Kamala Harris.

Donald Trump kicked off the presidential debate Tuesday night with a rant about immigrants taking over towns and Black jobs across America.

It’s a point that Trump has repeated throughout his campaign, and he hit all of the same points: claiming that immigrants from “prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums” were arriving in the United States, taking “jobs that are occupied right now by African Americans and Hispanics,” a slight variation of his usual line about immigrants taking “Black jobs.”

He also alluded to recent right-wing meltdowns over immigrants in the towns of Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Ohio. In the case of Aurora, Trump and the right claimed that a Venezuelan gang had taken over an apartment complex, only for its residents and the police to say that was completely false. In Ohio, the right have pushed a narrative about Haitian immigrants killing and eating pets, which was rejected by local police and municipal officials.

Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance has also spread the rumor about Haitian immigrants, despite having no evidence of any pets being killed and eaten. Several other conservative politicians, pundits, and influencers have all amplified the rumor, furthering right-wing fearmongering about savage immigrants. Donald Trump, historically, has had no love for Haiti or its people, claiming in 2018 that all Haitian immigrants have AIDS and referring to the country as a “shithole.”