Trump provides update on Ssgt. Andrew Wolfe, says ‘I’ll get impeached’ if GOP loses control of House
By Matthew Young, RealWV
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, addressed Republican members of the United States House of Representatives from the podium at Washington’s newly-renamed Trump Kennedy Center. Speaking for nearly 90 minutes, Trump briefly remarked on the two West Virginia National Guard members shot during a Nov. 26 attack near The White House.
“We had a terror attack four weeks ago,” Trump said. “One person is looking down from Heaven, and the other one is actually recuperating and gonna make it I think, but really badly hurt.”
Though not mentioning either by name, Trump was referring to 20-year-old Summersville-native Sarah Beckstrom, a U.S. Army specialist who died on Nov. 27 from wounds sustained in the shooting, and 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe. Wolfe’s condition is reported to be steadily improving.
“The mother [Melody Wolfe] was telling me that the night of the attack,” Trump noted. “[She said] ‘Sir, everyone is praying for my son. He’s gonna be fine.’ The doctors thought she was just hoping against hope. There was no chance.”
“Two weeks ago, he got up and started walking around,” Trump added. “It’s amazing, actually. So maybe – it looks like he could be okay. He’s gonna have pretty bad after-effects.”
Assuming it is not extended, the current deployment of the West Virginia National Guard to Washington, D.C. is scheduled to last through the end of February.
January 6th
Tuesday also marked the five-year anniversary of the January 6th, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol. After once again claiming that the 2024 presidential election was stolen from him, Trump blamed what he called the “fake news” for painting him as being responsible for the events of January 6th.
“Do you know the news never reported the words ‘walk or march peacefully and patriotically’ to the capitol,” Trump said. “They never reported it. It’s a scandal.”
A new page on the official whitehouse.gov website defends Trump’s Jan. 20 blanket pardons of some 1,600 convicted January 6th rioters, including former West Virginia House of Delegates member Derrick Evans. After being charged for his involvement in the attack on the capitol, Evans pled guilty to the felony charge of civil disorder. Evans served his 90-day prison sentence in 2022, before renouncing his admission of guilt the following year.
The White House also claims that it was the Capitol Police who were primarily responsible for the riot by “aggressively firing tear gas, flash bangs, and rubber munitions into crowds of peaceful protestors, injuring many and deliberately escalating tensions.”
“These inconsistent and provocative tactics turned a peaceful demonstration into chaos,” the website states.
The January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol resulted in the death of four Trump supporters. More than 100 Capitol Police officers were assaulted, with five officers dying in the days following January 6th due to injuries sustained during the riot.
Focusing on the mid-terms
Trump spent a large portion of his address discussing the need for Republicans to maintain their slim majority in the House of Representatives in November’s mid-term elections. Citing his closing of the United States-Mexico border, and his securing of Most Favored Nations-status with prescription drug manufacturers as the “ammunition” and the “road map” to Republican election victories.
Speaking about prescription drug prices, Trump said, “There hasn’t been a reduction in 28 years, except for the one year where I got it down one-quarter of one-percent.”
“[Now] prescription drugs are gonna be down by thousands of points,” Trump added. “On that one item, you should win this election.”
Trump referenced his previous impeachments as evidence of the need for urgency regarding the upcoming mid-term elections, saying, “They impeached me, for nothing – twice.”
Trump noted that Republicans were united in their nay-vote during his first impeachment, and that Republicans who voted in favor of his second impeachment were all defeated by Trump-endorsed primary opponents.
“Everyone’s gone,” Trump said. “Makes me feel so good. I don’t want to feel vicious, but I’m so happy. And they’re seriously gone, too. They lost in landslides.”
Once more stressing the need for urgency, Trump noted, “You go to win the mid-terms.”
“If we don’t win the mid-terms…they’ll find a reason to impeach me,” Trump added. “I’ll get impeached.”
Before leaving the stage, Trump told House members in attendance that “we’ve had the most successful year of any president in history, and it should be a positive. Make it a positive.”
