2020 ELECTION/TRUMP POST-PRESIDENCY: “When former president Donald Trump sat down for an interview in late March at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., he described the events of Jan. 6 as largely peaceful and his supporters as friendly, saying the audience he addressed at a rally on the Ellipse before the attack on the U.S. Capitol was a ‘loving crowd.’
‘Personally what I wanted is what they wanted,’ he said of the crowd. ‘They showed up just to show support because I happen to believe the [2020] election was rigged at a level like nothing has ever been rigged before.’
He also detailed his disappointment in and anger with then-Vice President Mike Pence and would not commit to selecting Pence as his running mate if he runs again in 2024.”
-Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker, “Audio: Trump says he spoke to a ‘loving crowd’ at Jan. 6 rally,” washingtonpost.com, July 21, 2021