Then-President Donald Trump speaks to supporters from the Ellipse near the White House on Jan. 6 ahead of an insurrection at the Capitol. His comments are a key part of the impeachment trial against him. Former President Donald Trump’s remarks on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, urging his supporters to march on the Capitol as Congress acted to certify the results of the November election, are a key part of the case against Trump being made by House impeachment managers, and by the lawyers who are defending him. The House managers in the Senate trial have already shown clips from the speech, in which Trump outlined a long list of grievances against the news media, against Republicans he deemed were insufficiently supportive, as well as a litany of false claims about how the election had been stolen from him. Democrats have pointed to one phrase in particular as they argue that Trump incited those present to march down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol. “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said. His defense lawyers, however, point to a different passage, in which Trump said, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” They argue that his words to were not a call for actual violence and lawlessness. Read his remarks in full below, as published by The Associated Press.
via npr: Read Trump’s Jan. 6 Speech, A Key Part Of Impeachment Trial