Hope Hicks said Trump told her no one would care about his legacy if he lost the 2020 election: 'The only thing that matters is winning'

• White House advisor Hope Hicks told Trump she was concerned that the January 6 attack on the Capitol would hurt his legacy.
• Trump responded that no one would care about his legacy if he lost, Hicks said.

Former President Donald Trump said winning was "the only thing that matters" as he falsely asserted he won the 2020 White House contest in the weeks after the election, according Hope Hicks, a former top advisor.

Hicks made her comments during videotaped testimony to the committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol that was aired during the panel's Monday hearing. The video showed Hicks speaking publicly for the first time about the weeks after the 2020 election.

"I was becoming increasingly concerned that we were damaging his legacy," Hicks told the committee.

Asked what Trump's response was to these comments, Hicks replied, "He said something along the lines of: 'Nobody will care about my legacy if I lose, so that won't matter. The only thing that matters is winning.'"

Hicks started working with Trump during his 2016 campaign and served as a close confidante and White House communications director. She left the White House before returning as a senior advisor ahead of the 2020 election. She was one of Trump's closest and most loyal advisors.

The committee also showed a text message that Hicks exchanged with Hogan Gidley, then-White House deputy press secretary, in which he urged her to tell Trump to send a tweet stressing that his supporters in Washington should be "NON-violent."

"I suggested it several times Monday and Tuesday and he refused," Hicks texted back.

Asked about it during her committee testimony, Hicks said she didn't make the suggestion to Trump directly but communicated it through other aides, including advisor Eric Herschmann.

"It was my view that it was important that the president put out some kind of message in advance of the event," she said.

Herschmann told Hicks he had already made the recommendation to Trump as well, but that Trump refused, Hicks said.

The committee's Monday meeting was the last time the group will convene during this Congress. It asked the Justice Department to prosecute Trump in connection with the violent siege.