Media report J6 claim even after proven false
The media are continuing to report a false claim made Tuesday by a former White House aide that President Donald Trump grabbed the steering wheel of his limo and attacked a Secret Service agent on January 6th, 2021.
The claim was made by Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. In a “surprise” hearing Tuesday before the January 6 Committee, Hutchinson testified that she was told by a Secret Service official that Trump ordered his Secret Service detail to take him to the Capitol on January 6th after hearing his supporters had entered the building. When the agents refused the request due to the crowd supposedly carrying weapons, Trump grabbed the wheel of the “Beast”, the presidential state car, and attacked Secret Service Agent Bobby Engel.
But the claim was debunked within hours as CNN, ABC and NBC News reported the Secret Service was prepared to testify that Hutchinson’s story was false.
Furthermore, video footage from January 6th shows Trump riding in an SUV, not the “Beast”. And even if he were in the “Beast”, it would be nearly physically impossible to grab the steering wheel given how the automobile is structured.
So soundly was the testimony debunked that “Amber Heard 2.0” began trending on Twitter as users compared Hutchinson to disgraced Hollywood actress Amber Heard.
But even a day after those reports, some media outlets are continuing to publish the original false story.
“Donald Trump Lunged At Secret Service In A Rage On Jan. 6,” reported The Root.
“Trump Fought Secret Service to Join Capitol Rioters, White House Aide Testifies,” wrote VOA.
“Donald Trump knowingly ordered armed supporters to march on the US Capitol and tried to have metal detectors removed,” tweeted Melbourne’s Channel 9 News 10 hours later. “According to astonishing testimony, a Secret Service agent was forced to fend off the President when he tried to take the wheel of his limo.”
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough warned Meadows that if he does not testify against his former boss he’s “in deep sh*t.”
Trump responded to Hutchinson on social media.
“I hardly know who this person, Cassidy Hutchinson, is, other than I heard very negative things about her (a total phony and ‘leaker’), and when she requested to go with certain others of the team to Florida after my having served a full term in office, I personally turned her request down.”
“Why did she want to go with us if she felt we were so terrible?” Trump continued. “I understand that she was very upset and angry that I didn’t want her to go, or be a member of the team. She is bad news!
“Besides, there were no guns found or brought into the Capitol Building. So where were all of these guns?”
According to Politico, the Secret Service says the January 6 Committee did not even bother to reach out to them to ask about the testimony in the days leading up to the hearing.
