Former US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he would pardon several people convicted for the Capitol riot on January 6, if elected to the White House in 2024.

The Republican, who has announced his intention to run again for president in the next elections, made the comments in a rare appearance on CNN at a town hall in New Hampshire.

When moderator Kaitlan Collins asked him if he would acknowledge his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 elections, Trump asserted his prior claims that the elections were rigged. While Collins attempted to fact-check the leader in real time, he often spoke over her.

"It was a horrible election," Trump said, eliciting applause from his supporters present at the event.

He further declined to express regret over the violence in the US Capitol in January 2021 where hundreds of his supporters stormed the building in an attempt to stop Congress from ratifying the election result.

"I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can't say for every single one because a couple of them probably they got out of control," Trump said.

Five people, including a police officer, died during or after the riot at the Capitol building, while over 140 police officers were injured.

 

What happened on January 6?

More than 950 people were arrested for the violence at the beginning of 2021, according to the Department of Justice website.

This includes those charged with assaulting or resisting police officers, assaulting members of the media, entering a restricted area with a deadly weapon and destruction of government property, among other citations.

One person even defecated on the desk of  then House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The storming took place after Trump made a speech in front of the White House claiming the election had been stolen from him. "We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," he said just before the attack took place. 

'A beautiful day'

Speaking at the town hall on Wednesday about the condemned day, Trump said: "I've never spoken to a crowd as large as that, and that was because they thought the election was rigged. They were there with love in their heart. That was unbelievable, and it was a beautiful day."

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) responded, saying the former president "lied about the 2020 election" for 20 minutes and criticized his comments regarding the day's beauty.

"This would be disgusting if it wasn't so dangerous," DNC spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement. 

mk/jsi (Reuters, AP)