Donald Trump hits back at congressional committee

A defiant Donald Trump has slammed the Congressional investigation into January 6th as a ‘hoax’ in his first public speech since its scathing hearing.

Former President Donald Trump at a rally in support of Arizona GOP candidates in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

A defiant Donald Trump has slammed the Congressional investigation into January 6th as a “hoax” in his first public speech since its scathing hearing revealed the former president watched television for hours in the White House during the riot, refusing repeated senior staff and family requests to try to call it off.

Speaking at a Trump rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona on Friday night (Saturday AEST), the former president waited until the end of his 90-minute speech to acknowledge the eighth hearing, televised in prime time the night before, which cast the president’s behaviour in a highly unfavourable light.

Mr Trump, facing potential criminal charges over his role in the assault on the Capitol to derail the certification of Joe Biden as president, ignored the crux of the hearing’s revelations, disputing only the allegation he wrestled with his driver in a presidential car in a failed attempt to go to the Capitol Building at the start of the riots.

“It’s a made-up story, total fiction,” he said in a speech that once again described the 2020 election as “rigged and stolen”, mocking how he could manhandle strong secret service agents.

“If I announced I was not going to run for office the persecution would immediately stop, but I can’t do that,” he told the large crowd on Friday night (Saturday AEST), after earlier teasing “we may have to do it again”.

Mr Trump was in Arizona to endorse one of his strongest supporters, Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor, for the August 2nd Republican primary vote to run for governor of the battleground state, which Mr Trump narrowly lost in 2020, potentially because of earlier insulting John McCain, the state’s veteran senator and war hero.

Indicative of the growing split among Republicans over candidates for the Congress and support for Mr Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, increasingly expected to throw his hat in the ring in 2024 as well, endorsed Ms Lake’s rival for the republican nomination, Karrin Taylor Robson, a few hours before in Tucson.

“In many ways the RINOs are worse than the democrats,” Mr Trump said, referring to the acronym for ‘republican in name only’.

House Select Committee member Adam Kinzinger with Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney in Washington, DC.

Whatever their ultimate impact on the US voters, which polls suggest have been more focused on inflation, and illegal immigration on the southern border, the blockbuster January 6th Committee hearings have sapped the former president’s support among previous high-profile media backers.

“Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr Pence passed his January 6 trial. Mr Trump utterly failed his,” the Wall Street Journal editorial board opined on Saturday (Sunday AEST).

“Mr Trump took an oath to defend the Constitution, and he had a duty as Commander in Chief to protect the Capitol from a mob attacking it in his name. He refused. He didn’t call the military to send help. He didn’t call Mr Pence to check on the safety of his loyal VP”.

The New York Post, which had also supported Mr Trump during his term in office, said on Friday there was “no defence for his refusal to stop the violence”. “As a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again”.

Sporting his usual red tie and navy suit, Mr Trump delivered a trademark speech, castigating Joe Biden’s record on inflation, immigration – describing the border with Mexico as “the most unsafe border in the history of the world” – and law and order, praising tough anti-drug dealer laws in China and Singapore.

“When I was with president Xi of China I said do you have a drug problem and he said ‘quick trial’, meaning they are executed immediately,” Mr Trump said approvingly.

“They want open borders, they want to defund the police, they don’t want voter ID,” Mr Trump said of Democrats.

The former president mocked climate change - “in 300 years from now the ocean will be one eights of an inch higher, who the hell knows” – and made personal attacks on some US political leaders, such as Democrat California Congressman Adam Schiff for having “the perfect watermelon head”.

“And so much for Larry Hogan’s presidential ambitions, all he has to do is look in a mirror and he’ll know it’s not going to work,” he said, referring to the Republican Maryland governor, a vocal opponent of Mr Trump, whose state voted on Tuesday for Trump-backed Dan Cox to square off against Wes More for Maryland governor.

Donald Trump embraces Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

Mr Trump’s speech came amid increasing speculation - and concern among some Republicans - the former president will declare his 2024 candidacy before the November midterm elections, potentially distracting voters’ attention from issues such as inflation.

Most political analysts expect Republicans to retake the House of Representatives and the Senate, as inflation in particular undermines popular support from Joe Biden and Democrats, who hold both chambers by slim margins.

“As Dems show more signs of life and Republicans nominate several problematic candidates, we‘re downgrading our House outlook from a GOP gain of 20-35 seats to 15-30 seats,” said David Wasserman, an analyst at the nonpartisan political strategy and data outfit, The Cook Report, on Thursday.