Trump Condemns January 6 Committee, Pence as He Teases 2024 Run

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Making his first public appearance since the House committee investigating the January 6 attack began its hearings laying bare his attempts to remain in power, President Trump on Friday lashed out at the committee — and Vice President Pence — as he continued to tease his plans for a third presidential run.Speaking to religious conservatives at a sprawling resort near the Grand Ole Opry House at Nashville, Mr. Trump blasted the committee’s efforts as a “theatrical production of partisan political fiction” and insisted he had done nothing wrong.“What you’re seeing is a complete and total lie. It’s a complete and total fraud,” he told the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference. He dismissed the harrowing video footage and searing testimony presented by the committee — including first-hand accounts from senior aides and family members — as having been selectively edited. And he downplayed the insurrection as “a simple protest that got out of hand.”Mr. Trump’s appearance at an event long known as a testing ground for presidential hopefuls comes as he has been actively weighing when he might formally launch another White House campaign. While allies say he has yet to make a decision about his plans, Mr. Trump for months has been broadcasting his intentions, and continued to tease them Friday.“One of the most urgent tasks facing the next Republican president — I wonder who that will be,” Mr. Trump said at one point, prompting a standing ovation and chants of “USA!”“Would anybody like me to run for president?” he asked the crowd, unleashing more cheers.The chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, Ralph Reed, said that, for now, “We don’t know whether or not he will run, although certainly given his speech, I think he wanted to let everybody know that that is his plan.”Mr. Trump also criticized his running mate, Vice President Pence, for failing to go along with his scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election.While he denied ever calling Mr. Pence a wimp, Mr. Trump railed against his former vice president Friday, saying, “Mike did not have the courage to act.” That drew applause from a crowd that Mr. Pence, himself an Evangelical Christian, has spoken before numerous times.Mr. Reed, who described himself as “a dear friend” of Mr. Pence, declined to comment on the rift, but said Mr. Pence had been invited to appear at the conference. “If Mike Pence wanted to come and wanted to offer a rejoinder to these folks, he could have done it,” he said.

Trump Condemns January 6 Committee, Pence as He Teases 2024 Run

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