(Headline USA) Former President Donald Trump has canceled a press conference he had planned to hold in Florida on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 uprising at the US Capitol.
Trump had been expected to use the press conference to rail against the congressional committee investigating the events of Jan. 6.
“In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the January 6th Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the January 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, and instead will discuss many of those important topics at my rally on Saturday, January 15th, in Arizona,” Trump wrote Tuesday evening.
Trump, whom one ally said had soured on the event because he felt it would not be covered fairly, had faced pressure to cancel from some who thought it was ill-advised, especially in an election year.
Republicans are anticipating a red wave in the November midterm to win back control of the House and Senate. But some in the party fear that a backward-looking fixation with the 2020 election and could turn off voters the party needs to win.
Moreover, with Democrats hoping to make Jan. 6 the centerpiece of their campaign efforts, Republican strategists aim to keep the focus on the current Biden administration’s failures since his Jan. 21 inauguration.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, said he had urged Trump to cancel over a round of golf in West Palm Beach this weekend, according to Axios.
He reportedly told Trump that “there could be peril in doing a news conference. … Best to focus on election reform instead.”
The event would have been Trump’s second press conference since leaving office. While he has been banned from Twitter and other social media outlets, he has appeared regularly on conservative news outlets and held numerous rallies and other events.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
