(NewsNation) — Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said Friday he did not consider the attack on the U.S. Capitol two years ago an insurrection.
“It was not an insurrection. These are people that were there to attend a rally, and they were there to protest… and it devolved into a riot. But the idea this was a plan to somehow overthrow the government of the U.S. is not true, and it is something the media has spun up,” DeSantis told English comedian Russell Brand on his podcast “Stay Free.”
During the interview, DeSantis said “a lot of people who were there were just there” and challenged those who disagreed.
The Justice Department has said some of the hundreds of defendants who have been found guilty of charges related to Jan. 6 were insurrectionists as they plotted months ahead of the joint session of Congress to use violence to prevent Joe Biden from being declared president. Amongst those charged, four members of the “Oath Keepers” group were found guilty in January of seditious conspiracy and other charges related to their attempt to disrupt the counting of the electoral votes.
“According to the evidence at trial, in the months leading up to January 6, these defendants and their co-conspirators plotted to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power, including by amassing an armed ‘quick reaction force’ on the outskirts of the District of Columbia,” the DOJ said in a press release. “In addition to the seditious conspiracy count, all four were found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to prevent Members of Congress from discharging their official duties.”
Also, five members of the “Proud Boys” group were found guilty in May of seditious conspiracy, including leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio after they were charged with making preparations to use violence that day.
The Democratic National Committee blasted DeSantis on his comments saying “Ron DeSantis just doubled down on his long and consistent record of embracing dangerous conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.”
“Today, he once again downplayed the violent mob that attacked the seat of our democracy – and he still won’t admit that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and has said he would consider pardons for insurrectionists who attacked law enforcement officers” the DNC continued. “So much for that campaign reboot.”
DeSantis’ comments come as he is re-tooling his campaign in wake of a recent financial report showing his operation has burned through a lot of the $20 million it raised in the last three months. The campaign last week laid off about a dozen aides who dealt with events to trim the large staff size.
To try to close the polling gap with front-runner Donald Trump, DeSantis’ campaign says it will concentrate more on smaller events especially in the early voting states in the GOP nomination race, portray the Florida governor as an “outsider” waging fights against the Washington and media establishments and broaden his media outreach.
“No one in this race has been under fire more and won than Governor DeSantis. He’s ready to prove them wrong again. Buckle up,” campaign manager Generra Peck said in a memo to supporters obtained by NewsNation.
NBC News first reported the details of the campaign retooling.
The campaign got some welcome news with the announcement Friday of more than a dozen Utah state legislators endorsing DeSantis.
The candidate will be pushed on the future of his campaign and its strategy overhaul during a meeting of its key donors this weekend in Park City, Utah, sources familiar with the event said.