In an interview on Fox News’ “The Faulkner Focus,” former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed that everyone in the Trump administration expected the anti-election protest in January to be peaceful — and that people felt “shock” and “disbelief” at the violent invasion of the Capitol.
“I think, at the beginning of the day before everyone went to the rally, everyone was expecting peace,” she said. “We had been to hundreds of rallies, I’ve probably been to hundreds of rallies at this point, certainly many dozens, and they were nothing but peaceful events, and we expected that day to be the same. And then, as those events transpired, it was disbelief, shock, somber, sad, horrified by the violence. It was a very hard, difficult day at the White House.”
McEnany’s account is contradicted by the fact that Trump himself, according to aides, was “pleased” that the violence disrupted the counting of the electoral votes, and that when House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, warned him how destructive the situation was getting in a phone call, Trump replied, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”
You can watch the video below via Twitter:
