Jan. 6 Attendee Says ‘Cult Leader’ Trump ‘Wanted the People to Attack the Capitol’
Pam Hemphill – a former Trump supporter who was sentenced to two months in prison for her part in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot – claimed to CNN host Abby Phillip that former President Donald Trump “wanted the people to attack the Capitol.”
During an appearance on CNN NewsNight on Friday, Hemphill said:
A lot of people are starting to recognize Trump is a cult leader. He turned MAGA into a cult, and so they’re listening to– he gaslights ’em and gives out a lot of lies. First, he started with the love bombing, and he keeps doing that, but actually, I don’t think we need to be afraid of Trump as much as we need to be afraid of the Republican Party. If you’re familiar with 2020– I mean, sorry, 2025. Project 2025. That’s what you need to be afraid of, ’cause whoever becomes president, the party now wants to have a dictator in there and we’re going to lose our democracy.
Phillip asked, “What is it, in your view, that he did that makes him culpable for what happened on January 6th?”
Hemphill replied:
Well, he knew the election wasn’t stolen, and why is he having everybody go down to the Capitol? See, when I got there, the crowd was so big, I couldn’t get through. So I walked around and asked what else was going on that day, and they said, “I think I heard Trump’s going to be at the Capitol.”
As I’m walking there, I’m thinking, well why are we going to the Capitol? He just had a talk. So I feel like he had it all planned. That he wanted the people to attack the Capitol. That’s just my feeling, but no, he’s responsible, because he said, “March down there.” He tries to use “Peacefully.” No, he said, “Go fight like hell.” That’s what he said, and he was talking to the wrong people because they took that literally.
“Do you think that Trump will ultimately face any consequences for his actions, whether they’re legal or criminal?” asked Phillip.
“I believe so,” Hemphill said, before referencing Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is currently prosecuting Trump over his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. “I think we can have a lot of faith in Jack Smith. He knows what he’s doing. He’s got the receipts, you know, and I think that, sadly, we’re going to have to wait till court for people to start realizing that Trump has lied about everything and Trump is a criminal, and he needs to have his day in court to be proven what we already know. That he is a criminal. He knows it.”
Hemphill also told Phillip she would be voting for President Joe Biden in the 2024 election and that, if she could speak to Trump, she would tell him to “retire” and to “get honest.”
“I don’t think he will, though. I don’t think anybody could say anything to him,” she concluded. “So that’s why I’m really hoping that Jack Smith can bring the receipts and the proof and have him put in prison for what he’s done to this nation.”
Watch above via CNN.
