Pro-Trump Jan. 6 'Truth Rally' Sees Only Dozens Attend

Only small crowds gathered in front of the Capitol on Saturday for a pro-Trump Jan. 6 rally which the far-right blog The Gateway Pundit had said would be be "the biggest J6 to date."

According to reports, only a few dozen Trump supporters showed up for the "Truth Rally."

The rally, whose declared goal was "to stand united against the political persecution of the January 6th political prisoners" and against "conservative political persecution in the heart of the American Capital," was meant to attract the crowds with a series of far-right commentators, professors and conspiracy theorists.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, founder of Cowboys for Trump Couy Griffin and two journalists at The Gateway Pundit were listed as speakers.

Lindell, who was scheduled to make his intervention via a Zoom call, is currently under federal investigation for an alleged breach of election equipment in Colorado.

With videos showing sparse crowds, reporters at the scene said there were nearly as many counter-protesters in attendance.

Trump demo
Only dozens showed up at a pro-Trump Jan. 6 rally at the Capitol on Saturday. In this photo, a woman takes a photo before a Save America rally for former President Donald Trump at the... Allison Joyce/Getty Images

"Counterprotesters just arrived and there's probably half as many of them as there are 1/6 Truthers. Was supposed to start at 1 and nothing yet," wrote NBC News reporter Ben Collins on Twitter.

A video shared by the journalist shows how relatively empty the Capitol grounds were on Saturday, with two small groups of counter-protesters and rally-goers facing each other at opposite ends of a street. Counter-protesters were chanting and beating buckets as drums to cover the voice of speakers attending the rally.

The Daily Beast' Zachary Petrizzo, also at the scene, shared a picture of a rally speaker talking in front of an apparently broken electronic backdrop, commenting that the event was "off to a rough start." Petrizzo wrote about the rally as failing "spectacularly."

Most of the rally-goers were reportedly members of the 1776 Restoration Movement, who flew upside down American and "Let's Go Brandon" flags.

The rally was framed in support of those who have been arrested following the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021, whom organizers referred to as "patriots" and "heroes." But Collins reported that the stance of the rally-goers and organizers regarding the Jan. 6 riots was overall confusing.

"Nobody at this January 6th Truth Rally has really settled on if the rioters are proud of it, if they didn't do it, or if they did it and it was a setup," Collins wrote on Twitter. "The theme is basically: There was no insurrection on January 6th, and we'd do it again."

Collins also reported that the "loudest applause line today at this 1/6 Truth Rally was for a woman giving the URL for a site where you can buy "Abolish the FBI" tee shirts."

The sparsely attended rally comes at the end of a difficult week for Trump, after New York attorney general Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the former president accusing him and his company to purposefully inflate the value of his properties, including his estates in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

The lawsuit could see Trump and his three eldest children barred from ever running a business in the state of New York again.

Trump has referred to the lawsuit as a "witch hunt."

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more

To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.

Newsweek cover
  • Newsweek magazine delivered to your door
  • Newsweek Voices: Diverse audio opinions
  • Enjoy ad-free browsing on Newsweek.com
  • Comment on articles
  • Newsweek app updates on-the-go
Newsweek cover
  • Newsweek Voices: Diverse audio opinions
  • Enjoy ad-free browsing on Newsweek.com
  • Comment on articles
  • Newsweek app updates on-the-go