Former President Donald Trump pledged late Wednesday that if elected, he would pardon a “large portion” of those convicted of federal offenses for their part in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“I’m inclined to forgive a lot of them,” Trump said at a CNN-hosted town hall at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. “I can’t say for every one of them, because a few of them probably got out of hand.”
He added that “very likely” he would forgive “a lot of them”.
“And it will be very soon,” Trump said.
More than 600 people involved in the January 6 attack have been found guilty, including more than 480 convicted. Hundreds of other January 6 rioters have been identified but not yet charged.
In his bid for president, Trump embraced the cause of his supporters who stormed the Capitol in their bid to deny Joe Biden the presidency after the 2020 election.
He touted the “J6 Prison Choir” and its song, “Justice for All,” which features Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance mixed with the national anthem sung by people incarcerated and awaiting trial. Trump played the song at his first campaign rally in 2024.
During a campaign stop late last month in Manchester, New Hampshire, Trump kissed a woman who served time in prison for her actions in the attack on the Capitol.
Trump told her to “hang in there”, called her a “great woman” and said it was “so bad” what was done to the “patriots” on Jan. 6.
Ryan J. Reilly contributed.