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The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack showed how Donald Trump still couldn't bring himself to say that he had lost the 2020 election in the aftermath of the riot at the Capitol.
During Thursday's eighth live hearing from the panel, outtakes were played of a taped address that Trump recorded on January 7, 2021, one day after his supporters took part in the insurrection.
The key moment from the clip shows Trump arguing that he doesn't want to read a line from the teleprompter that states "the election is now over," despite it being two months since Joe Biden was rightfully declared the winner.
The edited footage also shows Trump struggling with other parts of the speech, with Ivanka Trump, his eldest daughter and former senior adviser, heard interjecting offscreen.
Full Transcript of Donald Trump Outtakes
"I would like to begin by addressing the heinous attack yesterday, and to those who broke the law, you will pay. You do not represent our movement, you do not represent our country. And if you broke the law—I can't say that, I'm not gonna—I already said you will pay.
(cut)
"The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defied the seat of destiny—it's defiled, right? See, I can't see it very well. Okay, I'll do this. I'm gonna do this. Let's go.
(cut)
"But this election is now over. Congress has certified the results. I don't want to say the election is over. I just want to say Congress has certified the results without saying the election is over, okay?...So let me see, go to the paragraph before.
(Cut)
"I would like to begin by addressing the heinous attack yesterday. Yesterday is a hard word for me take the word yesterday out because it doesn't work with—a heinous attack on our country, say on our country.
(cut)
"My only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote. My only goal was to ensure the integrity of the vote."
A clip of Trump's outtakes was posted onto Twitter by user @Acyn, who frequently posts snippets of interviews and public comments from lawmakers and elected officials. The clip has since been viewed more than 1.5 million times.
Thursday's hearing also laid out how Trump failed to act for more than three hours as the insurrection was taking place and instead spent the majority of his time watching the violence unfold in the White House dining room.
During the time between his "fight like hell" speech at the Ellipse and telling his supporters to go home, Trump refused to listen to his advisers, including Ivanka, urging him to tell his supporters to call off the riot.
A number of witness testimonies also stated that Trump didn't make any calls to law enforcement or national security departments during the January 6 attack to request help in stopping the violence.
Recorded testimony of Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, showed him criticizing the former president over his inaction on January 6.
"You're the commander in chief, you've got an assault going on the Capitol of the United States of America, and there's nothing? No call? Nothing? Zero?" Milley said.
The panel suggested that Trump only decided to release a video telling his supporters to go home after realizing the insurrection had failed and that his inaction amounted to a dereliction of duty and a violation of his oath of office.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who led Thursday's proceedings along with Rep. Elaine Luria, said: "President Trump did not fail to act during the 187 minutes between leaving the Ellipse and telling the mob to go home. He chose not to act."
Trump has been contacted for comment.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more