Mary Trump, the niece of Donald Trump, has suggested that her uncle ignored requests to call off his supporters from attacking the Capitol on January 6 because he was "getting off" on watching the violence unfold.
Mary Trump, author and frequent critic of the former president, appeared on SiriusXM's "The Dean Obeidallah Show" earlier this week and was asked to respond to claims that Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump personally asked her father to intervene and get his supporters to stop the attack.
Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack, told ABC News on January 2 that they panel had received "first-hand testimony" that Trump was watching the attack live on television in the White House dining room, which is located next door to the Oval Office.
Cheney said during this time, it is reported that Ivanka Trump "went in at least twice to ask him to please stop this violence," which the former president failed to do.
Speaking about the claims, Mary Trump said what's "eerie" is that she considered this already common knowledge.
"Of course that's what he was doing," Mary Trump said. "He was getting off on it and there was no way he was going to stop anything because he was enjoying it too much and he probably wanted it to get worse."
She added that the only reason Ivanka Trump and others in his circle asked the president to call for an end to the protest was that it "had gotten out of control."
"They really thought that they could control this monster they've created and were probably hoping for a bloodless coup.
"It was only when the crowd turned violent, and it got very scary—and potentially what should have spelled the death of the Republican Party—that they realised that they needed Donald to tell them to stand down, which he had no interest in doing."
Mary Trump suggested that the then-president ignored the requests to call for an end to the violence because he thought "it was fun to watch all these people being murderous on his behalf" and considered that allowing the violence to continue "would be the best way for him to stay in power."
Cheney previously revealed that Fox News personalities Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Brian Kilmeade had texted Donald Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows during the January 6 insurrection in an attempt to get him to put an end to the riot.
Cheney said the texts were proof the White House "knew exactly what was happening" at the Capitol on January 6 and Donald Trump still "refused to act when action by our president was required" for more than three hours.
Donald Trump has been contacted for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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