Former President Donald Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, mocked her cousin Donald Trump Jr for texting then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the 6 January insurrection instead of his father directly.
The then-president’s eldest son was one of several people, including Fox News hosts and members of Congress, to text Mr Meadows during the Capitol riot, pushing him to get Mr Trump to urge his supporters to stop the violence and go home.
Follow live for Mark Meadows vote and reaction
The texts were released on Monday by the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot.
“He’s got to condemn this s*** ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough,” Mr Trump Jr wrote to Mr Meadows.
“I’m pushing it hard,” Mr Meadows responded. “I agree.”
“We need an Oval Office address. He has to lead now,” Mr Trump Jr added. “It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.”
Ms Trump told MSNBC that the reason “in this particular instance” that Mr Trump Jr didn’t contact his father directly was “simply cowardice because Donnie knew that the message he was delivering was the message his father did not want to hear”.
“The question I have is how much was Mark Meadows pushing hard to get the truth to Donald and my guess is not very hard at all,” she added.
She said the Fox News hosts and Mr Trump Jr believed Mr Trump could stop the violence.
“What they also knew though is that even though this horrific situation had gotten out of hand, they were directly responsible for creating it, as was Donald, and he was revelling in it,” she said.
“The only thing that disappointed him is that it didn’t work that day,” she added.
“I know we shouldn’t be surprised at the breathtaking cynicism of people like [Fox News host] Laura Ingraham, but still there is so much information we don’t know and my guess is that it is infinitely more damning than what we have already heard,” Ms Trump said.
The former president’s niece added that Mr Trump will likely react angrily at the release of the texts but that his inner circle has “become so small” that he might not have anyone to fire.
