Trump’s MAGA allies forced to face protesters - including a bear - heckling lawmakers for their ‘failed coup’
Republican lawmakers were greeted by a bear costume and cries of ‘bootlicker’ in the former president’s first visit to Capitol Hill since his felony convictions
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’s closest congressional allies were forced to walk through protesters while they marched to meet with the former president during his first visit to the Capitol since a mob of his supporters stormed the halls of Congress on January 6.
Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan passed through protesters blasting them for their “failed coup” to reverse Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.
Others shouted out “bootlicker” and “don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”
Another protester in a bear costume held up a sign reading “bigger tax breaks, bigger profit.”
Lawmakers met with Trump on Thursday at the Capitol Hill Club, where a pipe bomb was discovered on January 6, 2021, when Trump’s supporters broke through police barricades and Capitol windows and doors to stop Congress from certifying 2020 election results.
Federal law enforcement is still searching for a suspect.
The former president – who is criminally charged in Washington, DC, and in Georgia for his failed efforts to overturn those results, and for his failure to stop the mob – returned to the nation’s capital for the first time on Thursday since a jury convicted him in New York for his conspiracy to influence the outcome of the 2016 race.
He is expected to meet with GOP leadership in the House and Senate, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who hasn’t been in the same room with Trump since 2020.
In his meeting with House Republicans, Trump reportedly brought up Taylor Swift, praised Dwight D. Eisenhower as “the king of deportations,” and dumped on Milwaukee – where Republicans are expected to formally elect him as the GOP’s nominee to face Joe Biden in November – as a “horrible city.”
“President Trump talked about the specific strategies he was going to use to ensure that Trump voters show up in November and that they go all the way down the ticket,” Gaetz told reporters outside the Capitol Hill Club. “He was there to really let Republicans know that he was there to elect big majorities in the House and the Senate, and that he thought that would be essential to getting his agenda accomplished.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments