Trump praises Jan. 6 rioters as ‘patriots’ and ‘peaceful people’

Former President Donald Trump has nothing but praise for his fanatical supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in January.

The ex-commander-in-chief called those who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 “peaceful people” and “patriots” in a jaw-dropping interview aired on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Trump supporters besieged the Capitol, following a speech he gave in Washington that day, as Congress was meeting to finalize Electoral College results of the November 2020 presidential election.

Several people have been charged with crimes stemming from the rampage, in which five people lost their lives.

The House of Representatives subsequently impeached Trump for “incitement of insurrection.”

However, Senate Republicans prevented him from being punished, and most GOP leaders have fallen in line with Trump’s Twilight Zone-version of events surrounding last year’s presidential election.

“The crowd was unbelievable and I mentioned the word ‘love.’ The love in the air — I’ve never seen anything like it,” Trump was quoted as saying by Politico. “That’s why they went to Washington.”

He also praised Ashli Babbitt — an Air Force veteran who was fatally shot as she tried to enter a blockaded passage during the siege — as an “an innocent, wonderful, incredible woman.”

“There is no repercussion. [If] that were on the other side, it would be the biggest story in this country. Who shot Ashli Babbitt? People want to know and why,” Trump said.

Recent polls have found most Republicans remain in thrall to Trump since his election defeat. He was scheduled to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas on Sunday afternoon.