President-elect Donald Trump said he's going to pardon Jan. 6 defendants on his first day in office, telling "Meet the Press" that "These people are living in hell."
"I'm going to be acting very quickly ... First day," Trump told NBC's Kristen Welker. "They've been in there for years, and they're in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn't even be allowed to be open," Trump said, adding that he's going to look at "individual cases."
President Trump says he will be "acting very quickly" on pardons for some J6 defendants: "We're going to look at individual cases ... They've been in there for years!" pic.twitter.com/XeLbemtYXO
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 8, 2024
The Biden DOJ has hunted down and charged over 1,500 people with crimes connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot, NPR reports.
In 2023, Trump said he was inclined to "pardon many of them," adding "I can't say for every single one because a couple of them, probably, got out of control. I would say it will be a large portion of them and it would be early on."
Trump also told Welker that members of the House Jan. 6 committee "should go to jail."
President Trump says that Liz Cheney, Benny Thompson and everybody that was on the J6 Committee should go to jail 👀
— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) December 8, 2024
“For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.”
I can smell the panic from here and it’s amazing. pic.twitter.com/dtAQN2tjDn
Trump also said he would end birthright citizenship. While addressing so-called "Dreamers" - those children of illegals who are granted automatic citizenship, Trump said "We're the only country that has it. We're going to end that because it's ridiculous."
KRISTEN WELKER: You promised to end birthright citizenship on day one.
PRES.-ELECT DONALD TRUMP: Correct.
Trump is correct. Birthright citizenship was never meant for the children of illegal aliens…
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) December 8, 2024
The child of a foreign diplomat, who is in this country *legally*, doesn’t even get it.
The 14th Amendment says: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, AND SUBJECT TO… pic.twitter.com/p073Li8H07