January 1, ‘Destroying His Legacy’: Leaked Texts Reveal Different Side of Jan. 6

Newly released text messages show that Donald Trump Jr. and three Fox News hosts implored then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to persuade former President Donald Trump to stop the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

“We need an Oval address,” Trump Jr. wrote as protestors entered the Capitol building, delaying the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. “He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”

“He’s got to condemn this s—t asap,” Trump Jr. added.

“I’m pushing it hard. I agree,” Meadows responded.

Rep. Liz Cheney read the messages aloud during her statement holding Meadows in contempt.

Fox News hosts Brian Kilmeade, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham also sent similar messages to Meadows.

“Please, get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished,” Fox & Friends co-host Kilmeade wrote.

“Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol,” Hannity wrote.

“Hey Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home,” wrote Ingraham, host of The Ingraham Angle. “This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.”

According to The Guardian, Ingraham went on air later than night and instead shifted blame to “Antifa sympathizers.”

“From a chaotic Washington tonight, earlier today the Capitol was under siege by people who can only be described as antithetical to the MAGA movement. Now, they were likely not all Trump supporters, and there are some reports that Antifa sympathizers may have been sprinkled throughout the crowd.”

Similarly, Hannity also presented a different take to the public on his broadcast later that night.

“Our election, frankly, was a train wreck. Eighty-three percent, according to Gallup, of Republicans, and millions of others, do not have faith in these election results. You can’t just snap your finger and hope that goes away,” Hannity said.

The former president has been criticized for a casual response to the ongoings at the Capitol that day. He released a video directed to the demonstrators, saying, “Go home. We love you. You’re very special.”

Cheney said the texts demonstrate Trump’s “supreme dereliction” as he failed to strongly condemn the actions. “These texts leave no doubt,” she said. “The White House knew exactly what was happening at the Capitol.”

Sen. Ted Cruz’s former communications director Amanda Carpenter said that the text messages reveal “something essential.”

“These texts prove something essential. No matter what they say now, Trump’s loyalists knew at the time that what was happening at the Capitol was not a peaceful protest,” Carpenter wrote.

“They knew that it was a dangerous attack on American democracy. And they knew that Trump was responsible for it. That’s why they sent the texts pleading with him, through his staff, to make it stop.”

The texts were from the trove of nearly 9,000 documents that Meadows turned over to the committee investigating January 6 before he stopped cooperating.

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Trump Jr and Fox News hosts begged Meadows to help stop Capitol attack, texts show