Trump's Speech On Jan. 6 Pardons Proves How 'Unfit' He Is For Office, Warns Jen Psaki

Mary Papenfuss
·2 min read
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Former President Donald Trump’s offer of possible pardons for U.S. Capitol rioters if he’s reelected, along with his call for “massive protests” if he’s charged with a crime, serve as a “reminder” of “how unfit” he is for office, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.

In his remarks at a Texas rally Saturday, Trump “defended the actions of his supporters who stormed the Capitol and brutally attacked the law enforcement officers protecting it,” Psaki said during the White House press briefing.

“I think it’s important to shout that out and call that out,” she added, noting that Trump’s culpability in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, just two weeks before he left office, already made him a “unique and existential threat to democracy.”

More than 760 people have been charged in the Capitol riot so far. At least 140 police officers were injured in the attack on Congress as Trump supporters battled with law enforcement to break into the building and congressional offices as they threatened lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence.

Psaki also slammed Trump for his statement Sunday attacking Pence for failing to single-handedly toss out the results of the 2020 presidential election. Pence had no legal power to do so.

Trump “even attacked his own vice president for not — in his words — having ‘overturned’ the election,” Psaki said.

She said the president’s comments are “just a reminder of how unfit he is for office. It’s telling that even some of his closest allies have rejected those remarks as inappropriate in the days since.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), typically a staunch Trump ally, ripped the former president’s offer of pardons on Sunday.

“I don’t want to reinforce that defiling the Capitol was OK. I don’t want to do anything that would make this more likely in the future,” the senator said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“I hope they go to jail and get the book thrown at them because they deserve it.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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