Updated 7:56 pm:
Donald Trump Jr., the ex-president’s son, texted White House chief of staff Mark Meadows begging to get his dad to make a national address to halt the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a message revealed at a House committee meeting Monday.
The message was among several to Meadows that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), a member of the House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 riot, read aloud at the meeting. “We need an Oval Office address,” Donald Trump Jr. wrote Meadows, to persuade the Trump supporters to leave the Capitol. The presidential scion texted the president “again and again,” according to Cheney.
“He’s got to condemn this shit ASAP,” Trump Jr. texted. “The Capitol Police tweet is not enough.”
Several Fox News stars also texted Meadows to implore the president to act.
Trump confidant Sean Hannity texted: “Can he make a statement. Ask people to leave the Capitol.”
Primetime host Laura Ingraham wrote: “Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.”
And Fox & Friends’ Brian Kilmeade texted: “Please, get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished.”
In the end, the president reportedly did not act for three more hours.
Donald Trump Jr., the ex-president’s son, texted White House chief of staff Mark Meadows begging to get his dad to make a national address to halt the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a meeting of the House Jan. 6 committee on Monday, December 13, 2021.
This story is developing and will be updated.
