Former President Donald Trump ripped congressional hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection while in Nashville on Friday, rehashing false claims about the 2020 election and the attack on the Capitol.
Trump spoke during the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” event at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Conference Center, rallying hundreds of conservatives hoping to return Republicans to the majority in the House and Senate.
“This November we will win an overwhelming majority in the United States Congress,” said Trump. “It’s much harder for them to cheat when we have landslides.”
Trump spoke to the crowd for over two hours. But it only took minutes before he began ripping the House select committee’s investigation of the Capitol attack and former members of his administration, including Vice President Mike Pence.
“Mike Pence had a chance to be great. He had a chance to be frankly historic,” Trump said. “Mike, and I say it sadly because I like him, but Mike did not have the courage to act.”
Information this week focused on the intense pressure Trump put on his former vice president to reject the certification of the 2020 election.
During the third hearing by the House committee, Pence’s general counsel, Greg Jacob, said that he helped draft the statement rejecting the Trump team’s plan to overturn the election — and testified that Pence said, “This may be the most important thing I ever sign.”
It was Trump’s seventh appearance at the forum, attended by the kinds of conservative evangelical voters who helped propel him to the presidency. Trump also hinted toward a 2024 presidential run.
“Would anyone like me to run for president?” Trump said to a thunderous standing ovation and “U-S-A” chants.
Trump’s speech followed a line-up of high-profile Republican elected officials, who rallied the crowd with talk of abortion and retaking the majority.
Notably absent was former Vice President Mike Pence. When Pence spoke to the same group last year, he was booed, according to the Washington Post.
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