White House: 'Grotesque' to call Jan 6 defendants 'hostages'

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE — Calling those charged in the Jan 6 storming of the US Capitol "hostages" is a grotesque comparison, the White House said on Monday (Jan 8) after Republican former President Donald Trump called for those jailed over the riot to be released.

"It is grotesque to make those type of comparison," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One just days after the third anniversary of Trump supporters' 2021 attack as legislators were certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

Trump, who faces federal and state charges over his alleged role in seeking to subvert the 2020 election results, in Iowa on Saturday sought to downplay the deadly attack ahead of his potential rematch against Biden in November's election, reiterating his call for those charged to be released and dubbing them "hostages."

The former president has denied any wrongdoing and pledged to pardon Jan 6 rioters who have been charged. More than 1,200 people have been charged, and more than 900 have either pleaded guilty or been convicted following a trial.

Biden, on the eve of the anniversary, accused Trump of instigating the attack and plotting revenge on those seeking to punish him, aiming to put the future of US democracy at the centre of his reelection campaign.

While Jean-Pierre said she could not comment on the election or the US Justice Department investigation and charges over the election subversion, she pointed to Biden's speech Friday citing the 2021 attack as a larger fight over American freedom.

"I've seen American veterans note... how grotesque and offencive to compare those convicted of assaulting cops and attempting to overthrow the American government" with other US veterans held hostage or Israelis and others abducted during Hamas' Oct 7 attack, she added.

Some Trump allies have also begun adopting his language, while Washington Post/University of Maryland polling last week showed growing Republican sympathies for the rioters.

"I have concerns about the treatment of January 6th hostages," US Representative Elise Stefanik, a member of House Republican leadership, told NBC News on Sunday.

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