Attorneys for Donald Trump compared the former president’s comments regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot to comments Democrats made during the Black Lives Matter riots that swept across the United States during the summer of 2020.
Lawyers Michael van der Veen and David Schoen aired clips of then-President Trump defending law and order interspersed with calls from prominent Democrats, including President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, to “fight back” against Trump.
Van der Veen said that claiming “the President in any way wished, desired, or encouraged violent behavior is a preposterous and monstrous lie.”
Attorney David Schoen said that “fight” is “just a word people use… and that’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong.” He then asked Democratic lawmakers to “please stop the hypocrisy. Did you tone down the rhetoric this summer, when all of this was happening? Did you condemn the rioters?”
The summer 2020 riots led to over $2 billion in insurance payouts for property damage, according to Axios. Some social scientists also blame the riots and anti-police demonstrations for 2020’s increase in murder rates. (RELATED: Detroit Sues Black Lives Matter Members, Says They Endangered ‘Lives Of Police And The Public’)
The Jan. 6 Capitol Riot, which Trump is accused of inciting, left five dead and temporarily delayed the certification of President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
More than 230 people have been arrested for their participation in the Capitol Riot, according to an NPR public records search.