Trump privately called the officers who defended the Capitol on January 6 'pussies,' report says

• Trump called police officers who worked during the Capitol riot "pussies," The Daily Beast reported.
• He reportedly also believes some officers are being used as Democratic pawns to smear his name.
• Four officers gave harrowing testimony on their experience at the Capitol riot on Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump has in private conversations been calling some of the police officers who defended the Capitol on January 6 "pussies," The Daily Beast reported.

More than 200 officers with the US Capitol Police and Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department were injured as a result of clashes with pro-Trump supporters on January 6, police and union officials have said.

In the months since the insurrection, multiple officers have recounted their horror and accused Trump of lying about the nature of the riot.

But according to sources who spoke with The Daily Beast, Trump believes a number of officers who worked that day were weak, and called them "pussies."

The former president has on occasion expressed pity for some officers who worked that day, but has also said that he believes the events of January 6 "broke" several officers because they weren't tough enough, The Daily Beast reported.

According to the report, Trump also believes that some of the police officers are willingly becoming tools of Democratic politicians like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

It is unclear to which officers Trump was referring. Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

On Tuesday, four police officers who worked at the Capitol riot recounted their experiences as part of a House select committee investigating the events of January 6, which was set up by Pelosi earlier this year.

The Daily Beast reported that Trump made the disparaging remarks about the police officers some weeks before the hearing began.

The officers who gave testimony on Tuesday were the DC officers Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges, and Capitol Police sergeants Aquilino Gonell and Harry Dunn.

Fanone, who was dragged down the Capitol steps and suffered a heart attack, has been vocal in his denouncement of Trump.

He told MSNBC earlier this month, in response to Trump's describing the rally held outside the Capitol before the riot as a "love fest": "That's a lie. Donald Trump's description of January 6th - pretty much every portion of that statement - is a lie."

Similarly, on Tuesday, Gonell said it was "pathetic" that Trump claimed the rioters who stormed the Capitol "loving crowd."

Hodges also repeatedly referred to the Capitol rioters as "terrorists."