- During a speech in Miami on Wednesday, Trump mocked Cassidy Hutchinson’s January 6 testimony.
- He claimed that the Secret Service agent he lunged at made him appear “physically tough”
- Hutchinson claimed that Trump asked to be taken to Capitol Hill from what she heard.
MIAMI, Florida — Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he almost didn’t want to refute a secondhand account that he tried to lunge at a Secret Service agent on January 6, because it made him look “physically tough.”
Trump was referring a former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. WitnessShe testified before the January 6 Committee that she heard secondhand from the president that he tried to grab the steering of his SUV and lunged towards one of his Secret Service Agents on January 6 to demand they take him the Capitol.
Trump did not mention Hutchinson in his speech prior to the Hispanic Leadership Conference. OrganisedAmerica First Works, he spoke of “this one very ill individual” and recounted her testimony.
To laughters from the crowd in the ballroom of the InterContinental Miami, he said, “If you listen, this one very sick individual,” “I almost refused to dispute it because so many people said, “I didn’t know you were that physically strong.”
Trump stated, calling the story “phony”, that he would have grabbed Trump around the neck if he had not.
Hutchinson was a prominent witness in the January 6 Committee’s investigation into the attack on Capitol that tried to decertify 2020 elections. During her testimonyShe relayed Trump’s efforts to visit the Capitol on January 6, after the rally at Ellipse. However, his aides as well as lawyers were not able to assist him. It was a great idea..
Hutchinson claimed that Tony Ornato (White House deputy chief of Staff) recounted the incident to her right away after it had occurred.
She testifiedTrump said something along the lines of “I’m the effing President, take me up the Capitol now,” to which Bobby replied, “Sir. We have to return to the West Wing.” Hutchinson meant Bobby Engel, who is Trump’s head of protective detail.
“The president reached towards the front of his vehicle to grab the steering wheel. Engel reached for his arm and said, “Sir. You need to get your hand off of the steering wheel. We’re going back towards the West Wing, not to the Capitol.” Trump used his free hand and lunged towards Bobby Engel,” Hutchinson stated. Hutchinson added that Ornato had “recounted this story to me” and that he had moved towards his clavicles.
The account was Anonymously analyzed by sources who spoke to NBC News, but Secret Service agents haven’t testified about that day under oath and before the committee — even though a Trump ally says they’ve You were invited to do so.
In an interview with Insider, a former Secret Service agent expressed doubts about the account and said Trump was not the best choice. It would have been necessary toTo be able grab an SUV’s steering wheel and reach a Secret Service agent, you must squeeze through a “extremely narrow” space. Trump’s “Girth“It would have been difficult,” said the ex-agent.
