Former President Donald Trump continued to make false claims that the 2020 election was “rigged” against him as he campaigned in Iowa on the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
He held a total of four rallies in Iowa Friday and Saturday, less than two weeks before the Iowa Caucuses were set to kick off the 2024 presidential nominating contest on Jan. 15. Trump repeated unsubstantiated ideas about the 2020 election that drove a mob of his supporters to break into the Capitol while wielding weapons to try to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s win.
In Newton on Saturday, Trump said, “when you talk about insurrection,” migrants crossing the southern border are “the real deal.”
“Not patriotically and peacefully,” he said, alluding to the Capitol riot that led to five deaths and during which Trump’s supporters injured more than 100 law enforcement officers.
More than 1,200 people have been arrested in connection with Jan. 6 riot, and most of them have pleaded guilty to, or been convicted of, crimes ranging from entering the building to assaulting law enforcement officers.
Trump repeatedly referred to the people who were arrested as “J6 hostages.”
“Nobody has been treated ever in history so badly as those people,” he said.
Trump has saidhe would pardon them if he becomes president again.
He also criticized Jack Smith, the special counsel tasked with investigating Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump continued to allege that the four state and federal indictments against him—adding up to 91 felony charges—were politically motivated.
“It’s a combination of prosecuted and persecuted," he said.
Even with the ongoing criminal cases, the most recent Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll, conducted in early December, found 51% of likely Republican caucusgoers had Trump as their first choice.
The poll showed 19% of likely caucusgoers had Ron DeSantis as their first choice, and 16% picked Nikki Haley.
Trump urged his supporters to deliver “a massive victory in Iowa” that he said would “send a thundering message” to Biden ahead of the November election.
“We’ve got to get out and vote, because, you know, bad things happen when you sit back,” he said.
Iowa Democratic Part Chair Rita Hart said Iowans will never forget that Trump showed Iowans he would sacrifice our democracy on Jan. 6.
“Three years later, Trump’s here in Iowa to try to rewrite history and deny his role in inciting a deadly insurrection in our nation’s Capitol,” she said. “But Iowans watched with their own eyes as he encouraged his supporters to riot before they violently assaulted law enforcement.”
Hart said Trump is still threatening to “tear apart the foundations of this country” if elected.
Trump responds to Perry school shooting
At his Friday rally in Sioux Center, Trump said he was sending “our support and our deepest sympathies to the victims and families” affected by a shooting at Perry High School the previous day.
“It’s a very terrible thing that happened. And it’s just terrible to see that happening. That’s just horrible. So surprising to see it here,” Trump said. “But we have to get over it, we have to move forward. We have to move forward. But to the relatives and to all of the people that are so devastated right now to a point they can’t breathe, they can’t live: we are with you all the way, with you, and we love you and cherish you.”
Trump has more rallies planned in Iowa for Jan. 13 and 14.
The Iowa Caucuses are on Jan. 15 at 7:00 p.m.
Trump said he would be participating.
“I’m going to caucus, okay?” he said in Newton.
But Trump is not eligible to participate in the caucuses because he is not a resident of Iowa, which is a key requirement set by the Republican Party of Iowa.
“If you’re a first time caucusgoer, you can learn how to caucus,” he said. “And I’m going to have to learn, by the way. I haven’t done this before. But they’re going to teach me. I’m a quick study.”
