Were ‘Super-Charging’ These People Because of Political Viewpoints: Rep. Donalds on Jan. 6 Rioters

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Go on and repeat the slurs again. Trump also said at the convention he would pardon January 6th rioters who assaulted police officers. Do you support that?”

DONALDS: “Actually, what he said is that he was going to review every single case. He even repeated that again in Chicago at the nabj. What we do understand is the Department of Justice under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they did massively push up charges on people who protested at the Capitol and some who rioted at the Capitol on January 6th. What he’s talking about is doing a case by case review. You can lump it all together all you want, but those are the words of Donald J. Trump. I’m quite sure on the internet, people can pull up that clip, and they can watch it at their own leisure.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: “I’ll read it to you. This is Rachel Scott’s question. My question son those rioters who assaulted officers. Would you pardon those people? Oh, absolutely I would. That’s his words.”

DONALDS: “Yes, and but — but you did not leave in was the rest of his comments where he said, yeah, I would, but we want to look at everything on a case by case basis. That’s what will happen, George.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: “That’s actually — that’s not what he said. He said if they were innocent, I would pardon them. They have all been convicted. He said he would pardon those who assaulted police officers. Do you support that or not?”

DONALDS: “George, you just — George, you just changed the sound bite. You just changed it. Now you added, if they’re innocent, then I will pardon them. Let’s go back to the record of January 6th. Again, not —“

STEPHANOPOULOS: “I didn’t change the sound bite. That’s exactly what he said. They have been convicted.”

DONALDS: “George, the first thing you said — the first thing you said, was, yes, I’ll pardon them.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: “And he said that.”

DONALDS: “Then you said, if they’re innocent, then yes, I will. Now I’m responding. What he’s saying is that, yeah. I will go and look at these cases. If they’re innocent, yes, I will. If somebody was beating up a police officer at January 6, he’s not going to do that, but if you had people that were walking through the Capitol which did occur because the security protocols had changed because of that riot at the Capitol, then what he would do is not allow them to be held in jail with these massively increased charges by the current U.S. Attorney in D.C. Under the Biden-Harris Administration. Compare that to the fact that the riots that just occurred at union station, when bb Netanyahu was speaking to Congress, you had the same attorney for the district of Columbia who decided to just let people go and not file any charges even though they were defacing monuments at union square. So we want to be fair with the justice system. We continue want to be political with the justice system.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: “My question is on those rioters who assaulted officers. Would you pardon those people? Donald Trump, oh, absolutely, I would. You would pardon those? If they were innocent, I would pardon them. That’s the entire quote. They’re not innocent. They’re convicted. He said he would pardon them.”

DONALDS: “What I’m telling you is he’s going to go back and look at these cases because it is without a doubt, and look. January 6th is a very painful memory in our country, but it is without a doubt, the U.S. District attorney of Columbia was supercharging these people because of political view points, because you have other riots that have occurred in Washington, D.C. Where the charges were minimized or dismissed altogether. That is not an even-handed system of justice. That is a politically motivated system of justice, and you don’t have to look any further than the difference between how the Department of Justice has treated Donald Trump versus how the Department of Justice has treated Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton. What he is talking about is equal — is equal enforcement of the law, not picking and choosing.”