Trump Visits GOP Leaders on Capitol Hill

0:00

/1861

1×

Facts

• Former US Pres. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for the 2024 election, visited Capitol Hill on Thursday to meet with Republican lawmakers in both the House and Senate to discuss several topics, including tariffs and abortion.¹
• This was Trump's first visit to the Capitol since the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, where his supporters clashed with police while lawmakers certified Democrat Joe Biden's win in the 2020 presidential election.²
• On Thursday, Trump shook hands and fist-bumped Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell in their first in-person meeting since McConnell blamed Trump for what he called the 'disgraceful' Jan. 6 'insurrection.' McConnell has since endorsed Trump.²
• After his meetings, Trump, who earlier this month was convicted on 34 charges of falsifying business records, said there's 'tremendous unity' in the GOP.³
• In his meeting with House members, Trump reportedly called Milwaukee — the city due to host the Republican National Convention next month — 'horrible.' A spokesperson clarified that Trump was talking about crime in the Wisconsin city, not the city as a whole.⁴

Sources: ¹USA Today, ²Associated Press, ³CBS and ⁴BBC News.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Breitbart. This was a crucial meeting for Trump and GOP lawmakers to prove their unity, and they accomplished that in droves. Trump listened to their concerns about the election and several pivotal issues that will lure voters and be part of the agenda if Trump wins. Republicans are ready to go to work for the American people.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by CNN. It's astonishing how, just a little more than three years since the riots at the Capitol, the GOP is willing to turn the page in order to latch onto Trump because they believe he's going to keep them in power. The entire party has capitulated to an insurrectionist with no regard for the Constitution, and the US will be in danger if Trump prevails in November.

Predictions