Richard Arnold: US Correspondent on the response to Trump pardoning those convicted on January 6th

There's outrage over Donald Trump's decision to release convicted Capitol rioters from prison.  

The new President has signed off a flurry of executive orders following his inauguration, many sparking national and global concern. 

Trump's issued pardons and commutations to more than a thousand felons involved in the attacks to disrupt the transfer of power on January 6th, 2021.  

US correspondent Richard Arnold told Ryan Bridge that includes those convicted of assaulting police officers, many of whom are feeling betrayed.  

He says Trump's taken to calling those tried and convicted of crimes, 'hostages', and has often played a recording of them singing The Stars and Stripes Forever from prison. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Richard Arnold's in the US for US this morning, Richard.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Good morning, A good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Run all the executive orders from Donald Trump. And boy
there were a few, yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Well lots of them on the desk, there weren't there.
The opening move saw this flurry of presidential orders signed
as the documents steen were held up by Trump for
the cameras. Some of these will wind up in court,
but the most contentious, to begin with is his pardon
for almost all of those jailed or even tried over
the riots that he was capital so four years ago.
That includes those found guilty of assaulting police on that

(00:30):
day with all kinds of things baseball bats, flag poles,
pepper spray, and on and on. Some one hundred and
forty officers were injured in an assault on the US
capital spurred on by Trump. The injuries included crushed spinal discs,
traumatic brain injuries, and they heart attack. President Trump has
called it a day of love, quote unquote. One of

(00:50):
those hurt was a sergeant in the Capitol Police, r Q. Gannell,
who says that he and his fellow officers were punch
kicked and sprayed with chemicals. This man had served in
a Reich with the American military, but said that during
this he felt himself losing breath and thought, quote, this
is how I'm going to die. He now says he
feels betrayed by the pardons. President Trump has taken to

(01:12):
calling those tried and convicted in all of this hostages,
and often played a recording of some of them singing
the Stars and Stripes Forever, the national anthem over a
phone from prison. Some other Republicans have taken to calling
the Capital rioters tourists, and as he pardoned them, freeing
them most of them anyway of any record of their charges,
and commuting the sentences of a handful of others. Trump

(01:34):
said this from the Oval Office, approximately fifteen hundred full part. Yeah.
That surprise, seemingly some Republicans who said it would not
be right to pardon those found guilty of violent acts.
Here's what the incoming Vice President J. D. Vance said
just days ago.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't
be pardoned.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Obviously, he says, Well, they have all been pardoned. There
was no promised review of exactly what was done by
these individuals. They all get out of jail free. Trump
will also formalize the appointment of Mico Rubio, whom he
once called Little Mico, as the new US Secretary of State.
Rubio said soon after the January of the sixth Riots
in twenty twenty one.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
Entire life with and alongside people who came to America
fleeing countries plagued by political violence and by chaos. Today
America looked like the countries that they came here to
get away from. Vladimir Putin loved everything that happened today
because what happened is better than anything he could have
ever come up with.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
But today, in his first round of media interviews since
getting the Secretary of State post, it was no comment.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
We're going to focus on what makes America stronger and
more prosperous and safer. I'm not going to engage in
domestic play.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah, we don't want to talk about the capital riot stuff. Meantime,
those freed already include the leaders of the so called
Proud Boys and Oathkeepers to extremist groups who were found
guilty of helping to plot the riots. One Enrico Tario
were serving a twelve year prison term and other Stuart Roades,
eighteen years. Both of them are out now now a
group of their backs cheered outside the prison, happy days

(03:11):
while the guy with the horns, you know, the so
called QAnon Sharman. Everyone knows the picture. I guess has
said about his pardon quote, I got a pardon, baby.
He adds quote, I'm going to buy some bleeping, bleeping guns.
I love this country. Trump also called for a no
US citizenship automatically for people simply born in this country

(03:32):
from non citizen parents. That is a right that is
in the United States Constitution. So that is one presidential
document that I guess has said for future review by
the courts.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
All right, Richard, just before we go the Trump Biden
conversations and the beast on the way to the White House, etc.
Amy Klobyscher was privy to some of them. Do we
know what was said?

Speaker 2 (03:52):
Well, we do a little. She wouldn't give all of
the details, but O to be a flow in the wall. Right,
That's what many must have been thinking, because they not
only drove together to the inauguration site in the beast,
but they also you know, they had tea in the
White House together. This is the traditional thing traditions that
Trump denied Biden four years back. Anyway, we know something
of what was said for the hour or so that

(04:14):
these two men's been together, because Clovershaw was one of
the lawmakers who went along as chaperones. Happily they did
not need to physically intervene, but they encouraged the two
men to speak a lot about football. Klobashaw, who was
the Demopocratic Party rep, says they did speak about the
LA fires.

Speaker 4 (04:30):
A lot of discussion about the fires in Los Angeles.
I made a strong pitch. I said that I was
glad that the new president is visiting Los Angeles, and
we talked about the firefighters, but we also talked about
the rebuilding and the fact that the Olympics are coming
up and this will be a moment for LA to
rise from the ashes.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, twenty twenty eight. The winds are four carnts back
to the hurricane strengths today, so the fire threat is
not done yet. The two men also talked about the
Middle East cease fire deal. Of course, when he spoke
publicly about that, Donald Trump made no mention of Joe
Biden's role in Middle East diplomacy.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
All right, Richard, thank you for that. Richard Arnold, our
US correspondent, This Morning.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
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