Daily Beast: “In the months since the U.S. Capitol assault, Donald Trump has led the GOP efforts to distort and dismiss the realities of the anti-democratic and deadly riot that the former president himself instigated. In his retelling, Ashli Babbitt – who was shot and killed trying to enter the House chamber on Jan 6 – wasn’t so much a rioter as she was an ‘innocent, wonderful, incredible woman.'”

“And, in Trump’s mind, some of the police officers who defended the Capitol that day aren’t the real heroes, calling them liberal ‘pussies’ who loathe MAGA, and outliers within a broadly pro-Trump law enforcement community. In private discussions this summer, Trump has told some people close to him that several of these officers strike him as weak and as ‘pussies,’ according to two sources familiar with the comments and who described them independently. Trump has also maintained that these men seem ‘broke[n]’ by the events of Jan. 6, and that they do not have the supposed toughness or character of the law enforcement officers who, on the whole nationally, still widely support Trump and his policies. According to these two people, and another source with knowledge of the matter, the twice-impeached former president has also alleged that these particular police officers are letting themselves be used as pawns by anti-Trump Democrats, like Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), or simply despise Trump and are Democrats themselves.”