As Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign has progressed, the Republican has emphasized his support and affection for Jan. 6 rioters. The former president has defended them as “victims” and “hostages.” He has promised to reward them with pardons — including those who violently clashed with law enforcement. He has helped rioters raise money, and at one point he even released a song with Jan. 6 inmates.

But as it turns out, there was still room for him to fall further.

During a Univision town hall event, a man named Ramiro Gonzalez told Trump that he had lost his support, in part because of his handling of Jan. 6. “I want to give you the opportunity to try to win back my vote,” the Floridian — who described himself as a Republican — told the former president.

After pretending he wasn’t responsible for summoning the Jan. 6 crowd to the nation’s capital, Trump said: “Nothing done wrong. At all, nothing done wrong.”

He went on say, in reference to the insurrectionist violence, “There were no guns down there; we didn’t have guns. The others had guns, but we didn’t have guns.”

Just so we’re all clear, when Trump referenced “we,” he was aligning himself with the violent criminals — some of whom carried guns, his latest lies notwithstanding. Similarly, “the others” was in reference to law enforcement personnel.

The Washington Post published an analysis that noted, “It’s actually not the first time Trump has seemed to do this. But the last time, Trump’s comments weren’t so clear, and he apparently caught himself. At last month’s presidential debate, Trump cited ‘we’ before shifting to ‘this group of people.’”

Circling back to our earlier coverage, the day after the assault on the Capitol, the then-president said: “Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem.” He went on to describe the riot as a “heinous attack.”

Reading from a prepared text, Trump added: “The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy. … To those who engage in the acts of violence and destruction: You do not represent our country, and to those who broke the law: You will pay.”

Five days later, the Republican condemned the “mob [that] stormed the Capitol and trashed the halls of government.” On the final full day of his term, again reading from a script, Trump added: “All Americans were horrified by the assault on our Capitol. Political violence is an attack on everything we cherish as Americans. It can never be tolerated.”

Nearly four years later, Trump not only “tolerates” the rioters’ crimes, he’s associating himself with the rioters.

The Republican is not just rewriting history and relitigating insurrectionist violence in the race’s final weeks, he’s also engaged in a bizarre fight pitting the January 2017 version of himself against the October 2024 version.

It’s a fight he’s losing because it’s one he can’t win.

Steve Benen

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”

Dr. Miriam Adelson, billionaire and owner of the Las Vegas Sands, has contributed $95 million to the pro-Trump Preserve America PAC during the third quarter of 2024, a substantial boost to the former president’s re-election campaign. 

Adelson’s Support Key as Trump Campaign Lags Behind Harris in Fundraising

The donations, made between July and September, bring her total support for the PAC to $100 million for the year. This financial backing comes as Trump’s campaign faces a tighter fundraising race against Vice President Kamala Harris, whose campaign has raised $1 billion so far, compared to Trump’s $853 million, reported Bloomberg.

Adelson’s contributions form a significant portion of the PAC’s total third-quarter funds and will be crucial in the upcoming final stretch of the election. Preserve America has already allocated $113 million towards advertising for Trump, with a particular focus on key swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin, which Trump won in 2016 but lost in 2020. These states are once again expected to play a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the election.

Adelson, the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, has long been a major donor to Republican causes and a key supporter of Trump’s political career. In 2020, she and her late husband contributed $90 million to Trump’s re-election efforts, making them his largest donors. Her recent donations follow through on a previous pledge to provide substantial financial backing to Trump’s 2024 campaign.

With Only $7.4M Left, Trump PAC Struggles Against Harris’ Financial Dominance

Despite her hefty contributions, the Preserve America PAC now has just $7.4 million left to spend as the election approaches. In contrast, Harris has been able to outspend Trump in advertising across all battleground states, with her campaign investing $314 million in media buys compared to Trump’s $173 million. The Harris campaign’s financial advantage has also enabled it to set up over 330 field offices, staffed by 2,000 paid employees, to bolster voter mobilization efforts.

Adelson’s financial support has not gone unnoticed. She appeared alongside Trump at a September event where the former president sparked controversy by suggesting that Jewish voters would be responsible if he lost the election. Trump also linked his success to the future of Israel, highlighting his move of the US embassy to Jerusalem during his presidency, a decision that was celebrated by Adelson and other pro-Israel advocates.

Recently, The Las Vegas Review-Journal gave its support to Donald Trump for the 2024 US presidential race. This backing follows the paper’s endorsements in 2016 and 2020. The Adelson family owns the media. 

Univision has released some clips of Donald Trump‘s appearance Wednesday at a Univision town hall, including one where the former president is confronted on his claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield, OH were eating cats and dogs.

Trump made the claim during the ABC News presidential debate last month, but he was fact-checked by co-moderator David Muir, who noted that Springfield’s city manager said that there was no evidence that immigrants were eating people’s pets.

At the Univision town hall, one questioner, Jose Saralegui, identified himself as a registered Republican, but said that he was undecided.

Saralegui asked, “During the campaign there has been some conspiracy theories in use. … The authorities in Springfield, Ohio have more than one time clarified that the Haitians are not eating their cats and their dogs. Nonetheless, you want to revoke the permit they have to legally reside in this country. My question to you, respectfully, is: Do you really believe that these people are eating people’s pets?”

Trump responded, “This was just reported. I was just saying what has been reported, and eating other things too that they are not supposed to be. All I do is report. I was there, and I am going to be there, and we are going to take a look. And I will give you a full report when I do. That’s been in the newspapers and reported pretty broadly.”

Trump then defended his focus on Springfield, telling the audience that the city has seen a flood of migrants that have put on a strain on city resources. “If any of that happened, it would be a disaster for you and you wouldn’t be happy. We want to make our people safe and secure and we want to make them happy.”

“You can’t put, in a very short period of time, 32,000 people into a 50,000 people town and expect things to go well.”

According to the New York Times, the number of recent Haitian immigrants is closer to 20,000. Trump’s claim of migrants eating cats and dogs was rated as false by Politifact, citing city officials and police. And the reports have come from unverified social media claims, not mainstream news outlets, per Politifact.

The Univision town hall event is set to air tonight at 10 p.m. ET. It was held in Doral, FL, and moderated by Enrique Acevedo.

Per Univision, the event also included questions on inflation, the border and the January 6th attack on the Capitol. On immigration, Trump at one point said, “The prison population around the world has decreased a lot, and it is all coming to the United States of America.”