WTF Just Happened Today

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

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1/ Trump refused to take responsibility for inciting the deadly riot at the Capitol, offered no regrets, and defended his pre-riot speech as “totally appropriate.” In his first public remarks since the violence last week that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer, Trump deflected blame and called the effort by House Democrats to impeach him for a second time a “witch hunt” that was “causing tremendous anger.” The attack on the Capitol came after Trump encouraged a crowd of supporters to march to the building and “fight like hell,” saying: “You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.” Trump also took aim at social media sites that have banned him, saying they had made a “catastrophic mistake” and acted in a “divisive” manner. Trump then left Washington to travel to Alamo, Tex., to tour a section of his border wall. (New York Times / NBC News / Washington Post / CNN / ABC News / Politico / NPR / Bloomberg / The Guardian / Wall Street Journal)

• Trump privately – and falsely – blamed “Antifa people” for storming the Capitol despite overwhelming evidence showing the rioters were Trump supporters. (Axios)

• The city of New York is “reviewing whether legal grounds exist” to terminate its business relationships with Trump. The city pays the Trump Organization about $17 million a year to run a carousel, two ice rinks, and a golf course in city parks. (Washington Post)

• The director of Voice of America reassigned a reporter after asking Secretary of State Mike Pompeo questions he refused to answer. Patsy Widakuswara asked if Pompeo if he regretted saying in November that the presidential transition would proceed smoothly into a second term for Trump. (Vox / Washington Post)

• Trump-Biden Transition Live Updates: New York Times / Washington Post /