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Confused Trump appearance before the 2024 US election: The ex-president mentions Russian spies in connection with a Republican and the storming of the Capitol.
Washington DC – At a campaign event of a Christian organization, the former US President Donald Trump on Saturday (June 22) mixed up some facts. Trump mentioned “Russian spies” in connection with Representative Barry Loudermilk (republican) from Georgia. His statements at the conference organized by the Faith and Freedom Coalition, however, have no bearing on the actual controversy surrounding the congressman.
Trump makes confusing statement in speech on US election: Ex-president sees collaboration with Russian spies
Loudermilk is accused of organizing a tour of the Capitol for people who were later involved in the attack on the U.S. Congress building on January 6, 2021, reports the Independent. Already in the introductory words of his speech on US electionIn his speech thanking those present for their support, Donald Trump specifically mentioned the Republican congressman.
“Thanks also to the congressman – he’s fantastic – Barry Loudermilk is here somewhere… He’s doing a fantastic job with all the things they say he went through with Russian spies or something,” Trump said. With this statement, Trump was apparently referring to the accusation that Loudermilk gave an “uncharacteristic” tour of the complex the day before the storming of the Capitol. The Republican had previously become mired in contradictions.
Storm on the Capitol: Committee releases video footage – Republicans gave suspicious Capitol leadership
In 2022, the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot released video evidence that appeared to show Loudermilk leading members of a tour group who photographed and recorded “areas of the complex not normally of interest to tourists, including hallways, stairwells, and security checkpoints.”
Video footage released by the committee shows the lawmaker wearing a face mask and leading the tour of the House office buildings. At one point, he stops to talk to some members of the group while a man can be seen taking a photo of a stairwell. “Individual tour participants photographed and recorded areas of the complex not normally of interest to tourists,” committee chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat, wrote in the letter to Loudermilk. “The January 5, 2021 tour raises concerns about their activities and intentions.”
Some of the tour participants were allegedly involved in the violence the following day and made threats against Democratic lawmakers. Loudermilk responded at the time that the tourists were photographing the children’s artwork in the Capitol and not the tunnels and other sensitive areas.
Debate about Trump’s health before US election: Not the first confused speech
Loudermilk, who was first elected to Congress in 2014, is considered a loyal ally of Donald Trump. He also supports his claim that the 2020 elections were rigged. It is therefore not clear why the former president mentioned Russian spies in his speech. It is at least not the first time that Trump has attracted attention with confusing speeches and bizarre facts. Donald Trump’s health is a constant topic of conversation ahead of the 2024 US election.
In recent months, Trump has also confused the Turkish president with the Hungarian head of government, warned of a second – not third – world war, and called serial killer Hannibal Lecter from the film “The Silence of the Lambs” a “wonderful man.”
“He sometimes seems like an old, drunken uncle when he gives these speeches, and that could be a sign of age, that he is less and less able to control all his impulses,” analyzes political scientist Matthew Foster of the American University. “And for someone who is already so impulsive, that could go into unforeseen areas” (bg/dpa).
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