‘Out-And-Out Lie!’ CNN’s Daniel Dale Torpedoes Trump Over Capitol Rioters And Guns

CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale torpedoed President-elect Donald Trump over what he called an “out-and-out lie” about the January 6 rioters and guns.

Trump held a press conference at his Mar-a-lago resort this week that was chock full of bonkers moments and false claims.

The presser fell four years and one day after Trump cheered on a mob as they hunted then-Vice President Mike Pence through the Capitol grounds chanting for him to be hanged because he refused Trump’s demand to go along with a plot to overturn the election.

On Tuesday’s edition of CNN’s Inside Politics, Dale refuted several false claims that Trump made about the riot, including the assertion that the attackers had “not one gun” among them:

BASH: Okay. Daniel Dale has been waiting patiently.

Daniel, we were talking about the president-elect’s comments about January 6th. I know that there were a number of statements that are not accurate. Can you tell us what happened?

DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: There are.

So listen to what he said about one prominent rioter and the presence of guns at the Capitol that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Ashli Babbitt was killed. She was shot. She had never been shot. She was shot for no reason whatsoever. In fact, they say that she was trying to hold back the crowd, and the crowd was made up of a lot of different people. So we’ll see.

But I will tell you this, the person that was — was killed was Ashli Babbitt. This would be the only insurrection in history where people went in as insurrectionists with not one gun. Okay?

And let me tell you, the people that you’re talking about have a lot of guns in their home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DALE: This not one gun thing, Dana, has been debunked for three and a half years now, if not more. It is an out and out lie!

Now, we’ll never get a complete inventory of the number of guns brought by people to the Capitol that day, because most of them were permitted to leave before later being arrested. But there have been numerous cases in which people carried guns on Capitol grounds and were convicted for it.

I have a list in front of me. Mark Mazza, two loaded handguns on Capitol grounds, five years in prison. Guy Reffitt, more than seven years in prison carried a handgun on Capitol grounds.

Christopher Alberts had a pistol during the riot. Seven years in prison.

Jerod Bargar pleaded guilty, had a pistol there.

John Banuelos charged for allegedly twice firing a pistol in the air on Capitol grounds.

Roger Preacher, pistol in his waistband.

Mario Morris of Texas convicted of having a pistol in his waistband at the Capitol.

So, the not one gun thing is out and out false.

Now, on the Ashli Babbitt case — look, it’s subjective of whether she should have been shot. I can’t fact check that, but the president- elect is certainly leaving out some pertinent facts here, specifically that Ms. Babbitt was a rioter who was trying to enter a shattered window of the House speaker’s lobby had been warned not to do so, was carrying a knife.

So, certainly, not just wandering around aimlessly or something of that sort.

BASH: All right. Daniel, thank you so much for that. Appreciate it.

Watch above via CNN’s Inside Politics.