Kinzinger: Trump Didn't 'Fail' to Act, He 'Chose' Not to Do So

In her introduction to Thursday's prime-time hearing of the Jan. 6 House panel, Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia laid out the main theme: Former President Trump, she said, sat in the White House and watched the riot unfold on television while ignoring the pleas of aides and family members to intervene. “Virtually everyone told Trump to condemn the violence in clear and unmistakable terms,” she said, per the Hill. “But the former president chose not to do what all of those people begged.” Trump did not direct those at the Capitol to go home for another three hours. Fellow Democrat Adam Kinzinger made a similar point, notes NPR. "President Trump did not fail to act," he said. "He chose not to act.”

Luria maintained that Trump remained in his personal dining room in the White House for about two and half hours watching TV coverage of the riot. His formal diary contains no record of his activity between 1:21 and 4:03pm. “The chief White House photographer wanted to take pictures because it was, in her words, ‘very important for his archives and for history,'” Luria said. “But she was told ‘no photographs.'” During this time, Luria said Trump made no calls to military leaders or law enforcement officials, but instead called senators and urged them to delay certification of Joe Biden's victory, per the New York Times. (More Jan. 6 hearings stories.)