Trump recorded 3 takes of his January 6 video, 'veering off the script' each time, upcoming book says
- Two Washington Post reporters shed details on Donald Trump's January 6 speech in a forthcoming book.
- Trump called insurrectionists storming the Capitol "very special" before the video was taken down.
- The ex-president reportedly needed three takes because he kept "veering off the script."
Former President Donald Trump reportedly needed three separate takes to record the fateful January 6 video where he called violent insurrectionists "very special," according to a forthcoming book.
The book, "I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year," is from Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, a pair of Washington Post reporters who covered the Trump White House and co-wrote the best selling 2020 book "A Very Stable Genius." An excerpt on Trump's reaction to the Capitol siege was published in The Post on Thursday.
Trump's video came hours after the Capitol was breached and amid repeated pleas from White House aides - including his own daughter, Ivanka - for the then-president to call on his supporters to leave the building and stop the violence.
"I know your pain. I know you're hurt," Trump said in the now-deleted video, which precipitated his bans from major social media platforms.
"We had an election that was stolen from us," Trump continued in the video. "It was a landslide election and everybody knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order."
The election was not stolen, and Trump's legal team has been unable to win a single court challenge contesting the results.
Trump's praise for the insurrectionists drew widespread backlash.
"We love you. You're very special," Trump said. "You've seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel, but go home, and go home in peace."
While recording the video, Trump kept "veering off the script his speechwriters had prepared," according to the book.
"The version released was the most palatable option," Rucker and Leonnig write.