Former President Donald Trump made a harrowing speech and lamented about his election loss that he claims to be the "greatest fraud" in the United States, a new book revealed.
In a new book titled "I Alone Can Fix It" by Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, the former president repeatedly made remarks about his loss in the 2020 election and boasted that even he could beat the Father of the United States George Washington.
Beating Previous Administrations
"I think it would be hard if George Washington came back from the dead and he chose Abraham Lincoln as his vice president, I think it would have been very hard for them to beat me," Trump said, according to the book. "The greatest fraud ever perpetrated in this country was this last election. It was rigged and it was stolen. It was both. It was a combination, and Bill Barr didn't do anything about it," he added.
During the interview, which was conducted at Trump's Mar-a-Lago golf club, the former president also slammed Former Vice President Mike Pence, claiming he did not protect the Constitution.
When asked about the riot, Trump said he only hoped to urge his supporters to protest outside the U.S. Capitol and not enter the building. He also claimed the Capitol Police were "very friendly" to the demonstrators and blamed the media for not showing the officers "hugging and kissing" his supporters.
During the interview, the former president made no mention about the violence that occured at the riot, including an officer howling in pain as a mob of supporters crushed him in a door jam, as reported by ABC News.
You’ve seen images of Ofc Hodges crushed in the doorway during the insurrection at the US Capitol. Now we need your help finding the suspect who used a police shield to pin him against the door jam.
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) January 16, 2021
Have info? Call the FBI’s Tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) @FBIWFO pic.twitter.com/AZt2lylfj9
Deadly Capitol Hill Riot
The deadly riot led to the deaths of five people, including a Capitol police officer. The mob of Trump supporters also injured 140 officers, including 73 from the Capitol police and 65 from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington.
The injuries obtained by the officers who responded to the riot range from bruises and lacerations to more serious wounds, such as concussions and rib fractures, according to The New York Times.
Apart from the injuries and deaths, many Capitol Police officers who responded to the riot also tested positive for COVID-19 after being exposed to unmasked Trump supporters, according to Rep. David Cicilline, D-RI.
On the issue of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump said he believes his administration's handling of the pandemic was "very tough," noting that he restricted travel from China and Europe at the start of the pandemic.
The former president also bragged that he pushed scientists in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to get COVID-19 vaccines developed, tested and approved in record time.
Trump also touted his administration's efforts in providing equipment for medical workers and that they brought in "plane loads," saying they did a great job, he told Leonnig and Rucker, as reported by Vanity Fair.
The U.S. has now recorded more than 34.1 million COVID-19 cases and over 600,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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