Fact check: Trump lies that Jan. 6 was ‘an insurrection caused by Nancy Pelosi’

Washington CNN —

Former President Donald Trump lied Thursday that Nancy Pelosi caused the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, making a claim that has no basis in reality. He also repeated a previous false claim that the rioters had “no guns.” And he continued to omit critical context about what he said in his speech at a rally prior to the riot.

Trump added false and misleading claims about other subjects in his Thursday comments at his Mar-a-Lago club and residence. Since Trump was speaking after the conclusion of Supreme Court oral arguments about a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that he is ineligible for the 2024 ballot because of a constitutional ban on insurrectionists holding office, we will limit this fact check to his comments related to January 6.

Pelosi and January 6

In comments to reporters on Thursday, Trump blamed the January 6 riot at the Capitol on Pelosi, the Democrat who served as speaker of the House at the time.

“I think it was an insurrection caused by Nancy Pelosi,” Trump said.

Facts First: This claim is complete fiction – an abject lie. Pelosi did not cause a mob of pro-Trump supporters inspired by Trump’s lies about the 2020 election to storm the Capitol.

Some of the rioters made threatening statements about Pelosi or shouted that they were looking to find her. Their anger at Pelosi does not make her responsible for their illegal conduct.

Pelosi spokesperson Aaron Bennett told CNN on Thursday: “No matter what unhinged lies Trump spews about the insurrection he instigated, as numerous independent fact-checkers have confirmed, Speaker Pelosi did not plan her own assassination.”

Trump has previously made a narrower claim that Pelosi was responsible for inadequate security