Page:Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.pdf/637

 He "just didn't want to talk about it anymore," he told his press aides. "[H]e was tired of talking about it."

Ivanka Trump claimed to the Select Committee that her father was "disappointed and surprised" by the attack, but she could not name a specific instance of him expressly saying it.

"He—I just felt that," she said. "I know him really well."

Here's what she could definitively say: Committee Staff: Has he ever expressed to you any sentiment that he did or did not do the right thing in how he responded on the day of the 6th?

Ms. Trump: No.

Committee Staff: Has he ever expressed any sentiment about something that he wished he had done on the day of the 6th?

Ms. Trump: No.

Committee Staff: Has he ever said anything to you about the people who were injured or who died that day?

Ms. Trump: No.

Committee Staff: Has he ever said anything to you about whether he should or should not continue to talk about the 2020 Presidential election after the events on the 6th?

Ms. Trump: No.

The President may not have expressed regret over his behavior, but some of his most loyal supporters made the connection between his words and the violence.

A member of the speechwriting team, Patrick MacDonnell, conceded the next day in a text that "maybe the rhetoric could have been better." As the riot was in full throttle, even steadfast supporter Ali Alexander of "Stop the Steal" texted, "POTUS is not ignorant of what his words will do."

"We all look like domestic terrorists now," Hope Hicks texted Julie Radford.

Separately, Hicks texted Herschmann, "So predictable and so sad."

"I know," he replied. "Tragic."

"I'm so upset. Everything we worked for wiped away," she continued.

"I agree. Totally self-inflicted," he wrote.