On Thursday, former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller accused his former boss, President Donald Trump, of helping cause the January 6 riot at the Capitol with his speech earlier that day.
Miller’s remarks came during an interview on VICE on Showtime about one month after Trump was acquitted by the Senate on an incitement charge.
Watch the interview below.
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Trump’s Defense Secretary Blames Him For Violence
VICE News’ Seb Walker asked Miller, “Did you listen to the president’s speech in the morning? What did you make of it what you heard the kinds of things he was saying?”
Miller replied, “Concerning.”
Walker continued his line of questioning, “When you heard him say, ‘We’re gonna walk down Pennsylvania Avenue,’ ‘take our country back,’ that is what was concerning to you?”
Miller responded, “Sure, yeah. But by the same token, there had been a lot of rhetoric spewed over the previous bunch of years.”
Read: Former President Donald Trump's January 6 speech https://t.co/oem0Pi4eVY pic.twitter.com/RLTwmyFvyc
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 9, 2021
Walker continued, not letting up.
“But on this day, more than any other, when the vote is being certified in Congress, that must of set alarms bells off ringing in your head,” Walker queried.
Miller said, “Yes.”
Then Walker asked his question, point blank.
“Do you think the president was responsible for what happened on the 6th?” Walked pressed.
Miller said he did not think the violence would have unfolded if not for the president’s speech.
“I don’t know, but it seems cause and effect,” Miller said. “Yeah.”
NEW: Trump's acting defense secretary Christopher Miller told VICE, that rioters WOULDN'T have attacked the Capitol without Trump's speech.https://t.co/hGHbU9SKyX
— Bill Maxwell
(@Bill_Maxwell_) March 11, 2021
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Miller: Violence Wouldn’t Have Happened Without Trump’s Speech
Miller added, “Would anybody have marched on the Capitol, and overrun the Capitol, without the president’s speech? I think it’s pretty much definitive that wouldn’t have happened.”
As to whether or not he believes Trump was actually encouraging the crowd that day to riot, Miller said, “So yes, the question is, did he know he was enraging the crowd to do that? I don’t know.”
Many have speculated that the president telling the crowd to march down streets and be “strong” contributed to what unfolded.
However, Trump explicitly told the crowd that day to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
Former President Trump was acquitted of the charge “incitement of insurrection” in relation to the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol on February 13.
Watch the interview with Miller here:
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