Ex-campaign manager felt 'guilty' for helping Trump win, post-Jan. 6 texts show
Brad Parscale, former campaign manager to former President Donald Trump, said post-Jan. 6 that he he felt "guilty" for helping Trump win, according to text messages obtained and shared by the Jan. 6 commmittee.
During a Tuesday hearing, the panel shared texts Parscale had sent to former Trump campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson on Jan. 6, in which he reportedly claimed to have "lost faith" in Trump. He said that Trump's speech that day pushed for "uncertainty in our country" and amounted to "a sitting president asking for civil war."
"This week I feel guilty for helping him win," the ex-aide wrote, to which Pierson responded, "You did what you felt right at the time and therefore it was right."
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"Yeah. But a woman is dead," Parscale countered.
When Pierson then said Trump's rhetoric wasn't to blame for the violence, Parscale offered a succint retort: "Katrina," he said. "Yes it was."
In addition to the revelations regarding Parscale, the committee also on Tuesday presented evidence suggesting Trump had planned to lead supporters to the Capitol on Jan. 6, The New York Times reports. Per documents from the National Archives, Trump had reviewed a tweet to be sent from his account that mentioned marching to the Capitol after his infamous speech at the Ellipse. Though the tweet itself was never issued, Trump "let his allies know in advance that his plan was to direct the crowd to the Capitol," the Times writes.
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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
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