Here is all of Trump's public communication on J6. He communicated three times during the actual attack. The first tweet at 2:24 was more inflammatory lies about Mike Pence and election fraud. The second tweet at 3:13, more than two hours after the attack started and thirty minutes after Babbitt was shot, asked for people to not attack law enforcement but does not tell anyone to leave the Capitol. Finally, at 4:17, more than three and a half hours after the initial violence and long after Pence and the Senators and Congressman have been moved to a protective location, he tells his followers it's time to go home.
Why didn't he tell his followers to go home at 12:45 when the violence started, or 2:45 when Babbitt was shot, or in his 3:13 tweet? Why did he wait until 4:17?
- 1:00 a.m.: Trump tweets: "If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency."[151][152]
- 8:17 a.m.: Trump tweets allegations of vote fraud and asks Pence to delay the electoral count:
- 8:22 a.m.: Trump tweets a request for Republican party officials to delay the electoral count.[159]
- 11:57 a.m.: President Trump begins his over one-hour speech.[151][179] He repeats allegations that the election was stolen, criticizes Vice President Mike Pence by name a half-dozen times (though this wasn't part of his prepared remarks),[180] accuses fellow Republicans of not doing enough to back up his allegations, and states that he will walk with the crowd to the Capitol.[181]
- 1:10 p.m.: Trump ends his speech by urging his supporters to march upon the Capitol Building:[202][175][203][204]
- 2:24 p.m. President Trump tweets "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!"[160]
- 3:13 p.m.: President Trump tweets
- 4:17 p.m.: Trump uploads an unscripted video to his Twitter denouncing the riot but maintaining the false claim that the election was stolen.[160] Of the three takes he gave, White House aides chose this one as the "most palatable option" for distribution.[295] In the video, Trump says:[297]
- 6:01 p.m.: President Trump tweets