President Donald Trump appeared to forget that he was the president during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in Washington, D.C. — and instead blamed former President Joe Biden and “The Biden FBI” for the violent and unprecedented attack.
“THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6,” Trump wrote at 12:38 a.m in a Truth Social post. “If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM - DO SOMETHING!!!”
Trump made the false claim despite the fact that Biden was not sworn into office until two weeks later on Jan. 20, 2021, during the inauguration. Trump’s nominee, Christopher Wray, was serving as director of the FBI at the time of the attack.
In December 2024, the Department of Justice said it found no evidence that the FBI, which classified the attacks as an act of domestic terrorism, had any involvement in the Jan. 6 riots that led to multiple deaths and injuries to dozens of law enforcement officers.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump told his supporters at his “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C., to “fight like hell” against what he claimed was a stolen election.