Former President Donald Trump said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected his offer to deploy the National Guard ahead of January 6 in the U.S. Capitol because of "optics," The Gateway Pundit reported.
As per The Gateway Pundit, Trump told Fox News Channel Next Revolution via phone patch that Pelosi rejected his recommendation to deploy 10,000 members of the National Guard for January 6 in line with the Save America Rally because of "optics."
Trump, speaking to Steve Hilton of Fox News last Sunday night, narrated that he had advised the deployment of the National Guard days before the rally but Pelosi rejected it since it won't "look good."
"You know, we said to the Department of Defense, the top person, days before we had the rally, 'cause that rally was massive," Trump said in his interview, "and I said that I think you should have ten thousand, I think I gave the number, I definitely gave the number of ten thousand National Guardsmen, I think you have ten thousand of the National Guard ready."
"They took that number, from what I understand they gave it to the people at the Capitol which is controlled by Pelosi and I heard they rejected it because they didn't think it looked good," he revealed.
"So, you know, that was a big mistake," he stressed.
During the interview, The Gateway Pundit said Trump denied reports that he was watching the riot on TV and that he liked what he saw. He reiterated how he "hated" what he saw especially after Hilton pressed on how he felt about the violent riot that took over the US Capitol.
"Well, that's incorrect reporting. First of all I wasn't watching TV. I turned it on later on when I heard about it and did a lot of moves," he pointed out, "I hate to see it, I think it's terrible, I hate to see it."
Trump, the Gateway Pundit added, compared the "double standard" people had in reacting to the Capitol riots versus the Antifa riots and the radical left riots held in Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
On the other hand, the Daily Caller revealed that former Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving pointed out instructions given by Pelosi not to deploy the National Guard in the Capitol Grounds due to "optics" and this became the basis for him not doing so during the January 6 riot. This information was not denied by the House Speaker's office when contacted by the Daily Caller.
The Sergeant at Arms, the Daily Caller explained, is selected by the Speaker of the House from whom the former takes directions from. The Sergeant at Arms is a member of the Capitol Police Board, which oversees the United States Capitol Police.
However, the Daily Caller raised inconsistencies in the timelines given when Irving was put on the hot seat during the Senate inquiry on the U.S. Capitol riots and pointed out sources saying that "Irving is covering for Pelosi. There's no doubt."
"The New York Times previously reported that the Speaker's office confirmed that the National Guard was approved around 1:43 p.m. [Former Chief of Capitol Police Steven] Sund said he sent a request for help from the National Guard to Irving around 1:09 p.m, according to CNN. Irving said he was contacted about the matter after 2:00 pm, Axios reported. Sources questioned how Irving got the request after 2 p.m. but Pelosi approved the request at 1:43 p.m.," the Daily Caller said.
The information showed that Irving had asked permission from the Speaker "20 minutes before he got the request" for the National Guard at the same time that "he never had to run the request up the chain" when "the Speaker's office confirmed he did."
