In a recent interview with NBC News’s Kristen Welker, President-elect Donald Trump described how he would move “very quickly” to address those currently imprisoned for participating in the protests of January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol. Trump explained to Welker that he would pardon all the J6ers on his first day as the sitting president.
The incoming president told the reporter, “I’m gonna look at everything. We’re gonna look at individual cases…but I’m gonna be acting very quickly.” Clarifying Trump’s timeline, Welker asked, “Within your first one hundred days? First day?” Trump responded, “First day.” Welker, seemingly caught off guard by the speed at which Trump anticipates acting on the J6ers, asked again, “To issue these pardons?”
Trump continued, slamming the conditions to which the J6 prisoners have been subjected for years at this point. “These people have been there. how long is it three or four years?” Trump said. “You know, by the way, they’ve been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that you need to be allowed to be open.”
The comments from Trump regarding the J6 prisoners follow the controversial move from President Joe Biden to issue a sweeping pardon for his son Hunter, providing him immunity for actions since 2014. The Tribune recently reported on the pardon which read, “Be It Known, That This Day, I, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States, Pursuant to My Powers Under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1, of the Constitution, Have Granted Unto ROBERT HUNTER BIDEN A Full and Unconditional Pardon”
Continuing to outline the pardon, the statement added, “For those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024, including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted (including any that have resulted in convictions) by Special Counsel David C. Weiss in Docket No. 1:23-cr-00061-MN in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and Docket No. 2:23-CR-00599-MCS-1 in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.”
Taking to Truth Social shortly after the pardon, President-elect Trump claimed the “J-6 hostages” should be released. “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” he said. Trump has continually called for the release of those imprisoned for J6 activities, constantly urging President Biden to “release the J6 hostages” just before the 2024 Republican primary. “They’ve suffered enough. They have to release them. I call them hostages … Release the J-6 hostages, Joe. Release them, Joe. You can do it real easy, Joe,” Trump said.
Further demonstrating this sentiment, Trump said at a rally over the summer, “Those people have been treated so people have been treated so badly, especially when you compare them with people that ripped apart and killed people in Portland and in Seattle and in other places. They have been treated so badly.” He further noted, “So we’re asking, based on the decision, they should immediately be released. Immediately release the J6 hostages.”
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Watch Trump and Welker below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.