President Trump addressed a crowd of supporters in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol on Monday, hoping to prove his populist bona fides after his inauguration before dignitaries, billionaires and VIPs in the Rotunda.
“You look better than them, you’re more powerful than them and I love you,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump’s inauguration took place indoors because of the bitter cold in Washington. It was the first indoor inauguration in 40 years.
“There was no suffering in that room, it was 72 degrees. The best acoustics I’ve ever heard in the world,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump said he planned to take swift action on the “J6 hostages,” a reference to persons facing legal action for their alleged roles in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
He also took aim at former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger — Republicans who served on the House panel that investigated the Capitol attack, calling them “crying lunatics.”
“He’s always crying,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Kinzinger. President Biden pardoned the members of the Jan. 6 committee Monday just before leaving office.
Mr. Trump said the House committee destroyed evidence because they were afraid of being “caught in lies.”
On a lighter note, Mr. Trump said he watched Mr. Biden fly off from the Capitol and that he would like to have better relationships with Democrats.
“You used to get into a stagecoach, now you get into a helicopter,” Mr. Trump said of the departing president. “I wish we had a better relationship.”
Mr. Trump was joined by Vice President J.D. Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican.
The president joked about how he reduced Mr. Johnson’s razor-thin majority by tapping a few Republicans for his Cabinet.
“I said ‘You mind if I take that one, this one and a couple of others’?” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Johnson said it would be OK.
Mr. Trump also paid homage to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who joined them on the stage.
The president hailed Mr. Scalise, Louisiana Republican, for his courage in the face of health battles, including surviving a gunshot during the first Trump term and his battle with cancer.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.