Pain Point Pricked: Trump Bristles With Questions Over January 6 Pardons

‘Stop Interrupting’: Trump Has Tense Exchange With Reporter Over Jan. 6 Pardons

Story by Grace Hall. January 28, 2025

  • Pardons Issued: Trump has pardoned over 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol riot.
  • Tense Exchange: Trump became frustrated with Alexander’s repeated interruptions during the discussion.
  • Public Sentiment: Trump argued that the American public is tired of the prolonged jail sentences for those involved in the riot.
  • Judicial Response: Three federal judges in Washington, DC, have dismissed cases against January 6 rioters, emphasizing that the pardons do not erase the consequences of the riot.
  • Criticism: Judges and law enforcement unions have criticized the pardons, stating that they diminish accountability and devalue the sacrifices made by law enforcement officers.

President clashed with NBC News chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander when discussing the pardons, becoming frustrated by Alexander’s repeated interruptions. Alexander was questioning whether Trump’s pardons for over 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol riot endorsed violence.

Trump stated:

  • “They’ve served years in jail. They should not have served — excuse me.”

Alexander then cut in, interrupting the President and visibly frustrating him.

Trump:

  • “Listen to me for a second. Stop interrupting. They’ve served years in jail. And if you look at the American public, the American public is tired of it.”

Trump then expressed his grievances, stating:

  • “We won this election in a landslide because the American public is tired of people like you that are just one-sided, horrible people in terms of crime. You don’t talk about all the people that have been killed and what happens to those murderers. Murderers get no time. You take a look at some of these DAs. They go after political opponents, but they don’t go after people that shoot people in the street.”

Three federal judges in Washington, DC, have dismissed cases against January 6 rioters.

Judge Tanya Chutkan

  • “No pardon can change the tragic truth of what happened on January 6, 2021.” The judges noted that the pardons do not erase the consequences of the riot on those affected. It cannot whitewash the blood, feces, and terror that the mob left in its wake. And it cannot repair the jagged breach in America’s sacred tradition of peacefully transitioning power.”

Judge Beryl Howell

  • remarked that no “process of national reconciliation” could occur while those who disrupted a constitutional proceeding were glorified. Her ruling rejected the notion that the pardons addressed a national injustice. She stated, “No ‘process of national reconciliation’ can begin when poor losers, whose preferred candidate loses an election, are glorified for disrupting a constitutionally mandated proceeding in Congress and doing so with impunity.”

Law enforcement unions have been critical.

  • Two major police unions stated that allowing early release of those convicted of crimes “diminishes accountability and devalues the sacrifices made by courageous law enforcement officers and their families.”

Grace Hall covers U.S. politics & news as well as local Florida politics for content partner Modern Newsstand LLC.

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