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Greene again downplays Capitol riot and says it would have been armed if she led it | CNN Politics

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Greene again downplays Capitol riot and says it would have been armed if she led it | CNN Politics


Washington
CNN
 — 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stated over the weekend that if she had led the January 6, 2021, riot on the US Capitol that “we’d have received” and that individuals would have been “armed.”

“I come to Washington, I swear in on January 3, I get accused of giving riot excursions which I believed was hilarious as a result of I couldn’t even discover the toilet within the Capitol. True story,” Greene, a Georgia Republican, stated whereas talking at an occasion by the New York Younger Republican Membership, based on video posted by the Twitter consumer @patriottakes. “Then January 6 occurs, and subsequent factor , I organized the entire thing together with Steve Bannon right here. And I gotta inform you one thing: If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we’d have received. To not point out, it might have been armed. Yeah. See, that’s the entire joke isn’t it?”

Greene continued, “They are saying that complete factor was deliberate and I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ A bunch of conservatives, Second Modification supporters went within the Capitol with out weapons and so they assume we organized that? I don’t assume so.”

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In a press release to CNN on Monday, Greene stated she was being sarcastic and, as she has carried out beforehand, denied any involvement within the January 6 riot.

“My feedback have been making enjoyable of Joe Biden and the Democrats, who’ve repeatedly made me a political goal since January sixth,” she stated.

Greene, whose public picture has been constructed largely on her willingness to make inflammatory statements and embrace fringe conspiracy theories, has beforehand tried to justify the lethal riot and downplayed it as “only a riot.” However many rioters who have been on the US Capitol that day carried weapons corresponding to bats and poles, and a number of other carried weapons, together with one rioter who had two loaded handguns and was sentenced to 5 years in jail.

Greene’s newest feedback are additionally notable given the prospect that she’s going to return to committee assignments within the Republican-controlled Home subsequent 12 months, and former President Donald Trump’s willpower to make the ideologies behind the Capitol riot a central theme of his new presidential marketing campaign.

However though she has tried to publicly downplay the lethal riot, textual content messages from her to then-White Home chief of employees Mark Meadows obtained by CNN that have been handed over to the January 6 committee present her pleading for Trump to cease the violence that day.

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“Mark I used to be simply advised there’s an energetic shooter on the primary flooring of the Capitol[.] Please inform the President to calm folks[.] This isn’t the way in which to resolve something,” she texted.

The White Home on Monday condemned Greene’s feedback, calling it “violent rhetoric” and a “slap within the face” to regulation enforcement and households who misplaced family members defending the US Capitol that day.

“It goes in opposition to our elementary values as a rustic for a Member of Congress to want that the carnage of January sixth had been even worse, and to boast that she would have succeeded in an armed riot in opposition to the USA authorities,” White Home spokesman Andrew Bates stated in a press release to CNN.

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Joe Biden vows to stay in fight with Trump as pressure to quit mounts

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Joe Biden vows to stay in fight with Trump as pressure to quit mounts

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4 killed, 9 injured after vehicle crashes into Long Island nail salon

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4 killed, 9 injured after vehicle crashes into Long Island nail salon

Four people were killed and nine others were injured after a minivan crashed into a Long Island, New York, nail salon Friday afternoon.

The vehicle slammed into Hawaii Nail & Spa on Grand Boulevard in Deer Park shortly before 5 p.m.

A witness told NBC New York that the van plowed through the front of the business and almost came out through the back of the salon.

All of those killed or injured were inside the salon at the time, according to Lt. Kevin Heissenbuttel. Some people were trapped in the salon and had to be extricated by emergency services, he said.

A witness said the vehicle had been racing through a parking lot across the street before crashing and “seemingly in a rush,” NBC New York reported, adding that others said the van was trying to get around another vehicle when it drove into the building.

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The van was seen racing though a parking lot across the street, NBC New York reported. A witness said it was trying to pass another vehicle when it drove into the building, the station reported.

Photos from the scene showed a gaping hole in the storefront.

The Associated Press reported that a witness said he heard a speeding car and then a “shattering” noise.

“It was a sound that I never heard before,” he said.

The vehicle’s driver was among the injured and transported to a hospital.

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The Deer Park Fire Department chief said it was not clear what caused the vehicle to crash into the business.

About 150 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the scene.

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Trump-Biden debate draws smaller audience as voters tune out US election

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Trump-Biden debate draws smaller audience as voters tune out US election

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Thursday night’s US presidential debate was watched by 48mn television viewers, a sharp drop from the numbers that tuned in to the clashes between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the 2020 campaign.

CNN, the Warner Bros Discovery-owned network which hosted the event, said just over 9mn viewers had watched on its own channels, narrowly ahead of Fox News and ABC News, with cable rival MSNBC drawing about 4mn viewers. Another 30mn people tuned in on CNN’s digital channels or YouTube, it added.

The combined television audiences were well below the totals for previous presidential debates, however, extending a pattern of US media outlets reporting less interest in their election coverage this year.

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Trump and Biden drew 73mn viewers for their first debate in 2020, while Trump and Hillary Clinton pulled in an audience of 84mn for the opening showdown of their 2016 contest.

With full control over the style, content and format of the debate, CNN inserted rules that are atypical for US political events, such as foregoing a live audience and muting each candidate’s microphones unless it was their turn to speak.

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The debate was also a stark departure in tone from last year’s CNN town hall event with Trump, when a studio audience filled with the former president’s supporters prompted comparisons with his raucous rallies. CNN’s own media commentator slammed the town hall as a “spectacle of lies”, and Chris Licht resigned as CNN’s chief executive just a few weeks later.

By comparison, Thursday’s night’s debate was restrained. With microphones muted, there were no shouting matches, and with no audience or press in the room, it was quiet. The moderators played a background role, leaving the debate largely a back-and-forth dialogue between Trump and Biden. 

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However CNN was criticised for one significant choice: moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash largely avoided fact-checking the candidates in real time. The format seemed to favour Trump, who was allowed to make a series of unsubstantiated claims without being challenged during the 90-minute programme. 

The debate was a big test for CNN — the network that pioneered the dramatic, ultra-competitive cable news format in the US in the 1980s, but whose audiences have dwindled in recent years. It was easily the biggest moment yet for CNN chief executive Sir Mark Thompson, who took over as leader of the channel last year and has been tasked with turning around its business and restoring its brand.

CNN landed the sponsorship of the debate in May, beating out competitors including Fox News. The network seized on the moment, promoting the event heavily and forcing its rivals, who simultaneously broadcast the debate, to display CNN’s logo prominently on their screens.

The event was unique for a number of reasons. It was the first presidential debate in decades that was not organised by an independent commission, after Biden and Trump chose to bypass the tradition. It was also scheduled far earlier than usual in the election cycle. In previous years, the initial match-ups between presidential candidates took place in September or October. 

CNN has a fraught history with Trump, who frequently attacked the channel during his presidency. But on Friday morning, the Trump campaign blasted an email out to his supporters titled: “I love CNN . . . Because they gave me the opportunity to wipe the floor with Joe Biden.”

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