Trump Calls Planned ‘Justice for J6’ Rally at the Capitol ‘A Setup’

Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump thinks the planned “Justice for J6” rally at the Capitol on Saturday is “a setup.”

The rally is meant to protest how people arrested over the January 6 riots are being treated. Some Trump allies are referring to them as “political prisoners.”

The mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol after the then-president pushed the big lie about the 2020 election over and over. Trump continued pushing that false claim in a statement Thursday that did not mention the Saturday rally, but did say, “Our hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest.”

He directly weighed in on the upcoming rally in an interview with The Federalist Thursday:

“People are so disgusted with the way people are being treated from the Jan. 6 situation. It’s a combination of that compared to how Antifa and BLM were treated. When you compare the treatment, it is so unjust, it is so unfair. It’s disgraceful.”

Trump also characterized the planned Sept. 18 rally at the U.S. Capitol as a “setup” meant to denigrate Republican voters regardless of what transpires.

“On Saturday, that’s a setup,” Trump said, referring to the rally. “If people don’t show up they’ll say, ‘Oh, it’s a lack of spirit.’ And if people do show up they’ll be harassed.”

The January 6 select committee has been seeking documents in its investigation of that day and what happened in the Trump administration in the lead-up. Trump attacked the committee in response and said, “Executive privilege will be defended.”

Last month Trump put out an ominous statement that “we know who” the officer who shot Ashli Babbitt is. He repeatedly raised the question of who shot Babbitt on January 6th in the past few months.

The officer came forward days later, saying that when there was speculation online he shot Babbitt, he saw some disturbing death threats. The Capitol Police investigated the shooting and the officer was ultimately exonerated.