(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H, said in an interview released Monday that she quit Congress because President-elect Donald Trump “tried to kill” her.
Despite serving as a representative for more than three years since the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Kuster played the victim by saying her decision to retire was made based on the first-hand horrors she claimed to have experienced at the Capitol.
The 68-year-old Democrat, who announced her intent to step down in May, told Roll Call a glorified story of survival this December, saying she was one of the last lawmakers to escape who she incorrectly called “insurrectionists” chasing her down in Jan. 2021.
@realDonaldTrump needs to get his attorneys on this one. She is spreading defamation and lies accusing that DJT tried to "kill her" in her comments to news outlets.https://t.co/LWKNG38JDw
— Drea (@DreaUSA) December 26, 2024
“There is a part of it related to Donald Trump coming back,” Kuster told the outlet. “I was one of the last members of Congress in the gallery on Jan. 6, and as it turns out, we have the security footage that shows it was only 30 seconds from when I was able to evacuate that the insurrectionists were in that hallway hunting for us with zip ties and bear mace and who knows what else.”
Kuster did not name who allegedly hunted her with zip ties and bear mace, nor did Roll Call provide the security footage the congresswoman referenced.
She passed the buck to Trump, who told Jan. 6 protesters that day to “peacefully and patriotically” refrain from acts of violence.
“I just felt like, he tried to kill me once. I’m not available for it again,” Kuster said.
Only one person died on January 6, 2021, and she was a Trump supporter. Ashli Babbitt was shot dead by Lt. Michael Byrd, a U.S. Capitol police officer, during the chaos.
Kuster could not help but also try to paint Trump as an antagonist of women in her final comments on her retirement.
“I’m not prepared to be the gladiator, if you will, again for him, with his attack on women and undermining the social fabric. I’ve worked very hard on mental health and addiction treatment and on the environment. I’ve done a lot of work on tackling sexual assault and the whole ‘Me Too’ era of protecting women in the military and in the workplace, and it appears his approach is to tear that all down,” she told Roll Call.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
