Chris Christie: Trump Incited Jan. 6 Capitol Riot To 'Intimidate' Pence, Congress

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said that former President Donald Trump incited the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol to “intimidate Mike Pence and the Congress” and “overturn the election.”

In an appearance on ABC News on Sunday, Christie said that Trump “told the truth by accident” when he falsely stated last week that Pence, his vice president, “could have overturned”  the 2020 presidential election if he’d wanted to.

“Let’s call this what it is: January 6th was a riot that was incited by Donald Trump in an effort to intimidate Mike Pence and the Congress into doing exactly what he said in his own words last week overturn the election,” Christie told ABC’s “This Week.” “Now he’s trying to do a cleanup on aisle one here in correcting that stuff, but it’s not going to change. He actually told the truth by accident. He wanted the election to be overturned.”

Days after Trump’s false statement, Pence responded at a Federalist Society event, saying: “President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election .”

Christie has previously condemned Trump for his actions leading to the Capitol riot.

Both Trump and Christie, a longtime Trump ally, have suggested they may run for president in 2024.

In an interview on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show early Monday, Christie said that the Trump supporters who violently stormed the Capitol “went there because that’s what Donald Trump told them to do.”

“Words matter, Hugh,” Christie said, according to a transcript. “Words matter under the law. Words matter in politics. And words matter when they come out of the mouth of the president of the United States.”

On Jan. 6, 2021, an armed mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers were gathered to count the Electoral College votes from the 2020 presidential election, which Joe Biden won. Before the riot, Trump incited the crowd at a National Mall rally by claiming the election had been stolen from him. Five people died in the attack and its immediate aftermath, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer.