On Tuesday, Feb. 9, a Facebook shared by Rep. Jim Jordan, a Trump supporter, claimed that House Democrats intentionally edited out footage of the former president telling supporters on Jan. 6 to "peacefully and patriotically" protest the results of the 2020 election during his second impeachment trial.
The subsequent day, Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, echoed the assertion on Twitter: "There's one line from President Trump's January 6th speech that Democrats keep conveniently leaving out: 'Peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,'" he wrote.
Did Trump Tell Supporters to Protest 'Peacefully and Patriotically'?
Fact-checking website Snopes combed through video footage and a transcript of Trump's speech to his supporters at the 'Save America Rally' at Ellipse Park before the Capitol was breached on Jan. 6 and did, in fact, make the statement.
"I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard," he said in the first half of the approximately 70-minute speech that revolved around baseless election fraud conspiracy theories in a bid to convince his supporters that he legally deserved a second term in the White House.
Did Democrats Edit Out the Line from Trump's Impeachment Video?
As far as claims about Democrats omitting Trump's"peacefully and patriotically" remark from the video is concerned, Snopes investigated the video compilation that Democratic House impeachment managers (a group of nine lawmakers appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) presented in the Senate chamber as part of their opening presentations on Feb. 9, using footage from C-SPAN.
The fact-checking website found that the 13-minute video that was played on the first day of the impeachment trial did not include the statement made by the president at Ellipse Park. The compilation did, however, include a clip Trump shared on social media during the riot, in which he did not condemn the mob but rather told them to "go home in peace."
Watch the video montage below:
Although Democrats omitted Trump's remarks from the video compilation, the impeachment managers did acknowledge Trump's statement to protest "peacefully and patriotically" on Jan. 6 and accompanied it with the video evidence claiming Trump was using it as "defense."
"One of President Trump's key defenses focus on what he said for a few seconds, 15 minutes into the speech," Rep. Madeleine Dean said, before playing the clip, according to C-SPAN footage. "In a speech spanning almost 11,000 words — yes, we did check — that was the one time, the only time, president Trump used the word 'peaceful' or any suggestion of nonviolence." She also noted that Trump used the term "fight" or "fighting" 20 times during his speech.
We can confirm this. While it was true that Trump told his supporters to "peacefully and patriotically" march towards the Capitol and try to convince members of Congress from affirming their vote in favor of then-President-elect Joe Biden, he also made the following remarks during his speech urging the mob of supporters to "fight" and "stop the steal":
