On fourth Jan. 6 anniversary, calls attack a 'day of love' and defends rioters as victims

On the fourth anniversary of the January 6 Capitol attack, President-elect Trump held a press conference where he defended his mass pardons of January 6 defendants and continued his historical revisionism about the insurrection. Trump called January 6 a 'day of love' where 'nothing was done wrong' by his supporters, while claiming the jailed rioters were 'hostages' held in 'disgusting' prison conditions. He stated that 'murderers don't even go to jail in this country' while defending clemency for those who had served years for attacking police. The rhetoric came just two weeks before his inauguration, where he would pardon over 1,500 January 6 defendants on his first day in office. This marked the final anniversary before Trump's return to power and demonstrated his complete lack of remorse or accountability for inciting the insurrection.

"It was a day of love. Nothing was done wrong at all."