‘Shameful’: Trump criticised over latest January 6 comments

Upon his return to the White House for the second time in January 2025, one of the first things US president Donald Trump did was issue pardons for around 1,500 of his supporters who were charged in connection with the violent insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The move was met with widespread condemnation at the time, and some rioters even rejected their pardons.

Now, Trump has once again defended his decision in an interview with 60 Minutes, telling Ross Douthat: “I pardoned the J-sixers, I don’t think any group’s been treated more unfairly than them.”

In response, Douthat asked: “Even the ones who attacked police officers were treated unfairly?”

Trump replied: “There were some that got rough, but they [Capitol police] were rough to them, too.”

The remarks have since been slammed online, with journalist Mehdi Hasan branding them “shameful”:

“Still so disturbing,” wrote foreign policy reporter Laura Rozen:

One user asked: “How can any police officer support him after a comment like that? Insane”:

And Patrick Skinner, himself a former US Capitol police officer, said Trump is “a stain on our national soul”:

Trump previously came under fire for his comments about attacks on police officers during the insurrection back in January last year, when he described said assaults as “very minor incidents”.

As for the 60 Minutes interview, this wasn’t the only moment to spark a reaction on social media, as he was branded “weak and pathetic” in response to a question about insulting the Democrats, and admitted his administration’s deportation policy was “too tough” in the same week that he named Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff.

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