'There Could Be Peril': Graham Advised Trump To Ditch January 6 Press Event

Former President Donald Trump planned to hold a press conference in Florida, his adopted state, on the one-year anniversary of the January 6, 2021 insurrection. But Trump, according to Associated Press reporter Jill Colvin, canceled that event and will instead “be discussing his grievances” at a rally in Arizona in mid-January.

“Trump continues to falsely insist the election was ‘stolen’ and that the ‘real’ insurrection was on Election Day, November 3, 2020, the day Democrat Joe Biden won the votes that led to his 306-232 Electoral College victory,” Colvin notes. “Federal and state election officials, Trump’s own attorney general and numerous judges — including some he appointed — have all said repeatedly that the election was fair and that there is no credible evidence of serious fraud.”

In an official statement released on Tuesday night, January 4, Trump wrote, “In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the January 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, and instead will discuss many of those important topics at my rally on Saturday, January 15th, in Arizona.”

One Republican ally who urged Trump to cancel the press conference he had in mind for January 6 was Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. The conservative senator told Axios he advised Trump that “there could be peril in doing a news conference” and that it was “best to focus on election reform instead.”

Axios’ Jonathan Swan notes that Fox News’ Laura Ingraham also advised Trump against going forward with a January 6 event.

Swan reports, “House and Senate leaders had no involvement in planning Trump's event — which they viewed as a political headache. They were quietly relieved when they saw his statement Tuesday evening announcing he was canceling the press conference. The withdrawal leaves Steve Bannon and Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) as perhaps the only high-profile Trump allies willing to go on the offense through media appearances Thursday.”

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet