Liz Cheney, the vice-chair of the Senate committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Hill riots, slammed former President Donald Trump’s remarks that if he returned to power, a pardon was on the cards for those who mounted the attack. 

At a Texas rally, Trump recently said that those who’d stormed the Capitol were being treated unfairly. Notably, the insurrection attempted to overturn the 2020 election result, which saw Joe Biden become president. He also raised the possibility that he’d pardon them upon returning to power in 2024. 

Trump had said, “If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly. We will treat them fairly. And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons. Because they are being treated so unfairly”.

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Cheney has long been a vocal critic of Trump, and took to Twitter on Monday morning, saying “Trump uses language he knows caused the Jan 6 violence; suggests he’d pardon the Jan 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy; threatens prosecutors; and admits he was attempting to overturn the election.” She added, “He’d do it all again if given the chance”. 

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Trump has long flirted with the idea of running for the White House in 2024. The 45th President jokingly proclaimed himself as the 47th President as well, while playing golf with his friends. As per polls, Trump is quite ahead in popularity, compared to other Republican candidates who might be interested in being frontrunners for the presidential race.

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Recently, Trump’s statement also exposed his intention to have the 2020 election results overturned, and his continued belief that then-Vice President Mike Pence, didn’t do the needful to see it through.  

Notably, the Senate committee hearing is investigating whether Trump’s speech directly incited the crowds to storm the Capitol. Even now, the former US president has maintained that the election was stolen from him.