Crowd boos reporter who asks Trump if he will apologise for Capitol riot
The former president hasn’t apologised for inspiring many of the rioters, and has continued spreading falsehoods about the election
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump declined to answer a reporter who asked if he’d apologise for inspiring many of the participants in the 6 January riots at the US Capitol, as a crowd of onlookers audibly booed the journalist during an event at the US-Mexico border.
The question came from CNN’s Jim Acosta, as Mr Trump was wrapping up his remarks at a stretch of the border wall in Texas, part of a multi-state political comeback tour for the former president.
“Mr Trump, will you apologise about January 6th?” Mr Acosta called out.
Upon hearing the question, Mr Trump cracked a smile and flashed a thumbs up, as the crowd booed the CNN anchor.
Trump uses trip to border to assail Biden on immigration
Trump says US is ‘sick in elections and it’s sick on the border’ during Texas visit
Trump rated one of worst presidents in history on par with leader who died after a month in office
Trump calls on Mark Milley to resign after top US military officer thrust into ‘critical race theory’ debate
Numerous alleged participants have said in court that the former president and his insistence the election was “rigged” inspired them to storm the US Capitol.
Following the attack on the Capitol, where five people died and many more injured, Mr Trump told his supporters he loved them and that they were “very special”, while continuing to undermine the legitimacy of the election.
“It was a landslide election, everyone knows it ... but you have to go home now,” Mr Trump said in a video message. “We have to have peace, we have to have law and order, we have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anyone hurt.” The day after that attack, Mr Trump finally conceded the election, even though it had been clear for weeks he hadn’t won.
“A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20,” the outgoing president said. “My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power.”
Despite these more statesmanly promises, Mr Trump has resumed attacking the 2020 election.
During his visit to the border on Wednesday, Mr Trump compared the US to a “banana republic”.
“We had an election where we did much better than we did the first time and amazingly we lost,” Mr Trump said, adding. “We better get our elections straightened out because you’re going to have a runaway country, you’re going to have a banana republic, you’re going to have a third world country here pretty soon because our elections are a mess.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments