Yahoo Finance Donald Trump Allegedly Privately Belittled the Capitol Police Officers Who Testified to Congress
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Despite their emotional testimony recounting the Jan. 6 riots, the U.S. Capitol Police Officers who fought to protect the lives of lawmakers that day don't have a fan in Donald Trump, according to a recent report.
A new report by The Daily Beast claims that, privately, the 75-year-old former president has described some of the police officers on duty during the Capitol riots as "p-------," who he deems to be weak.
Two sources who spoke to the outlet claimed that the former president said the men seem "broke[n]" by the events of the Capitol riots, inferring that they are not as strong as other law enforcement officers, such as those who support Trump.
The Beast reported that the former president "has expressed some measure of pity for these men, saying that he feels sorry for them—but mostly because Trump thinks they're being used or exploited by his political foes, the person with knowledge of the situation said."
The Beast contrasted Trump's alleged description of the officers with remarks he recently made about Ashli Babbitt, one of his supporters who was shot and killed while trying to break into the House chamber amid the riots.
"Who shot Ashli Babbitt? Why are they keeping that secret? Who is the person that shot an innocent, wonderful, incredible woman, a military woman, right in the head? And there's no repercussions," Trump said in a call-in appearance on Fox News earlier this month.
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on The Daily Beast report.
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The report about Trump's alleged remarks comes as four law enforcement officers delivered stirring testimony on day one of the House Committee hearing on the Jan. 6 Capitol riots earlier this week.
U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Harry Dunn was among the officers who responded to the breach of the building in January, which occurred after thousands of Trump voters gathered to hear the former president give a disgruntled and angry speech outside the White House, amid his baseless claims that election fraud resulted in his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden.
One of the officers on duty that day, Brian Sicknick, later died as a result of injuries he sustained during the riots.
In his remarks, Dunn argued that both the rioters and those who sent them should be punished, saying, "If a hitman is hired and he kills somebody, the hitman goes to jail. But not only does the hitman go to jail, but the person who hired them does."
Dunn continued: "There was an attack carried out on Jan. 6th and a hitman sent them. I want you to get to the bottom of that."
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Trump has previously been known to name-call those he views as rivals, political or otherwise, and has been alleged to use similar phrases when describing those who were wounded in combat or captured.
While in office, Trump frequently criticized the late Sen. John McCain, both on his 2016 campaign trail and after the senator died of brain cancer in August 2018.
And in 2020, the Atlantic reported that the then-president had called U.S. soldiers "losers" and "suckers" during a 2018 trip to Paris when he canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery.
"Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers," Trump reportedly said to senior staff members the morning the trip was scheduled to take place.
He also reportedly later called the marines who died at Belleau Wood — the battle during which American troops and allies halted Germany's advance into Paris during WWI in 1918 —"suckers" and asked his aides, "Who were the good guys in this war?"
Trump denied that report, calling it a "disgrace," and claimed that the Secret Service would not let him go to the cemetery because of rainy weather conditions.
