‘Striking’: Maggie Haberman Says Trump Embracing J6 Rioters While Waging ‘Campaign of Intimidation’ On Bragg Is No Coincidence
New York Times correspondent, best-selling author, and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman connected the dots between Trump’s “striking” public embrace of the Jan. 6 rioters and his “campaign of intimidation” against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump has been stoking a firestorm ever since reports emerged that various law enforcement agencies would be meeting with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to prepare for a possible indictment and arrest of Trump in Bragg’s probe over hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.
And at his rally in Waco, Texas this past weekend, Trump played footage of the attack and recited the Pledge of Allegiance as the so-called “J6 Choir” of imprisoned Capitol riot suspects’ rendition of The Star Spangled Banner played, and bragged about the group in a TV interview this week.
On Tuesday night’s edition of CNN Primetime: Inside the Trump Investigations, host Pamela Brown asked Haberman and CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins to weigh in on the clip, and Haberman said while Trump spent years avoiding the subject, he’s now embracing Jan. 6 for a reason:
BROWN: Yes. What do you think, Maggie?
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yes, look, I do think it’s pretty striking that number one, he was airing that footage at all that it was hand to heart, with this chorus. January 6, is an issue that Donald Trump was trying to avoid talking about, for a very long time, after he left office, because it was a terrible day. And I understand that there has been an effort, to try to, reimagine what took place. But it was a terrible day.
And so, to go from that in 2021, to now openly embracing it, simultaneous with this intimidation campaign that he’s running against the Manhattan District Attorney? I don’t think I can take these things as separate.
But I agree with Kaitlan. There is a market for it. His base is clearly supporting this. His base likes it.
As much as I think that it doesn’t discourage Alvin Bragg, from potentially prosecuting Donald Trump, just because of these attacks, and it actually could help Bragg politically, it also helps Trump politically. And I think that is, as long as there is a market for something, Donald Trump is going to push it.
BROWN: Yes. And he feeds off the crowd. He was bragging about the song, how it was number one on iTunes.
HABERMAN: Right.
