On Thursday, the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) characterized former President Trump as a “twice-impeached Florida retiree” — which is, of course, pretty much exactly on point. Pelosi’s office shared this description for the former president in a condemnation of his recent complaints about the treatment of some of his supporters who stormed the Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to stop the formal certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. Trump claimed that Capitol rioters “are being treated unbelievably unfairly” — although their crimes are serious, and pretending otherwise is an insult to the law enforcement personnel who worked to defend the Capitol that day and were injured by rioters.
The new statement from Pelosi’s press office (who, generally speaking, speak on Pelosi’s behalf) reads as follows:
‘Twice-impeached Florida retiree — and de facto leader of the Republican Party — Donald Trump joined House Republicans today in disrespecting the Capitol Police and other law enforcement officers, who valiantly defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, decrying how rioters ‘are being treated unbelievably unfairly’ now that they are facing legal consequences for their actions.’
Check out the statement below:
Pelosi's office refers to Trump as a "Twice-impeached Florida retiree" pic.twitter.com/hB1HHw8RqH
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) July 8, 2021
Contrary to Trump’s claims of unfairness, authorities have proceeded with careful precision in their handling of Capitol riot cases. Many defendants have even been allowed to go free ahead of their trials (or plea deals), and one defendant who has already been sentenced even received no jail time at all. Instead, they were sentenced to three years of probation. (They were among those facing less serious charges connected to the riot.) Other defendants, meanwhile, have been charged with offenses like conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding, which could leave offenders with lengthy prison sentences. Obstruction of an official proceeding alone carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, if convicted.
