Former President Donald Trump He said that he got advice from several people right after the 2020 elections but it was his decision. Forward the false claim He won the presidency and tried to overturn the results.
“It was my decision, but I listened to some people,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in an interview that aired Sunday.
Trump has been indicted for trying to tamper with the 2020 election results. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts and has denied any wrongdoing.
According to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case central premise His indictment As for the former president, it’s that Trump knew the election claims he was making after being told by close associates that he had lost were false but spread them anyway to make them appear legitimate — all an alleged hoax. In service of criminal conspiracy.
“I was listening to different people, and when I put it all together, the election was rigged,” Trump said in an interview with Kirsten Welker, again pushing the false claim that she is the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. Wanted to be nominated.
“You know who I listen to? I saw what happened myself,” Trump said.
The former president said he did not listen to his lawyers who told him he lost the election because they did not respect him.
“You hire them, you’ve never met these people, you get a recommendation, they turn out to be RINOs (Republicans in Name Only), or they turn out to be not that good. In many cases, I respect them. No,” Trump said. “But I respected others. I respected many others who said the election was rigged.
After his election defeat, Trump tried a number of methods to overturn the election results. He pressed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Rauffensperger and another official to “recalculate” the numbers and “MillEnough votes to win it.
The Trump campaign also attempted to plant fake GOP electors in seven swing states.
The House Select Committee that investigated Trump’s actions in the lead-up to the January 6, 2021 coup, argued that evidence showed he “transferred false Electoral College ballots to Congress and the National Archives,” despite the concerns of his lawyers. actively worked to”. So may be illegal.
“This evidence leads to a compelling and straightforward conclusion: The main cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, followed by many others. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him. The committee’s final report said.
Smith’s Investigating interference in federal elections This is one of four criminal cases against the former president. Trump faces four charges in the Smith case, including obstruction of government action and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Trump was also charged. Georgia indicted Accusing him of being the head of a “criminal organization” to subvert the 2020 elections.
CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.
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