7.14 President Trump’s “Rhetoric Killed Someone”

7.14 President Trump’s “Rhetoric Killed Someone”

¶The President may not have expressed regret over his behavior, but some of his most loyal supporters made the connection between his words and the violence.

¶A member of the speechwriting team, Patrick MacDonnell, conceded the next day in a text that “maybe the rhetoric could have been better.”³³⁶³³⁶ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Patrick MacDonnell Production), PM000158 (Jan. 7, 2021, Patrick MacDonnell text message to personal contact at 9:46 p.m. EST). As the riot was in full throttle, even steadfast supporter Ali Alexander of “Stop the Steal” texted, “POTUS is not ignorant of what his words will do.”³³⁷³³⁷ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Ali Alexander Production), CTRL0000017719, p. 3; Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Deposition of Ali Alexander, (Dec. 9, 2021), p. 57.

¶“We all look like domestic terrorists now,” Hope Hicks texted Julie Radford.³³⁸³³⁸ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Hope Hicks Production), SC_HH_042.

¶Separately, Hicks texted Herschmann, “So predictable and so sad.”

¶“I know,” he replied. “Tragic.”

¶“I’m so upset. Everything we worked for wiped away,” she continued.

¶“I agree. Totally self-inflicted,” he wrote.³³⁹³³⁹ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Hope Hicks Production), SC_HH_040.

¶Brad Parscale, Trump’s Former Campaign Manager, texted Katrina Pierson at 7:21 p.m. on January 6th, saying the day’s events were the result of a “sitting president asking for civil war.”³⁴⁰³⁴⁰ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Katrina Pierson Production), KPierson0717 (Jan. 6, 2021, Brad Parscale text message to Katrina Pierson at 7:14 p.m. ET).

¶“This week I feel guilty for helping him win . . . a woman is dead,” Parscale added.

¶“You do realize this was going to happen,” Pierson answered.

¶“Yeah. If I was trump [sic] and knew my rhetoric killed someone,” he said.

¶“It wasn’t the rhetoric,” she said.

¶Parscale’s reply: “Yes it was.”³⁴¹³⁴¹ Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Katrina Pierson Production), KPierson0718–KPierson20 (Jan. 6, 2021, Brad Parscale text message to Katrina Pierson at 7:22 p.m. ET).