Defiant Trump defends actions during US Capitol assault
The Hindu
The former U.S. President expresses no contrition for summoning rioting supporters to Washington
Former President Donald Trump defended his conduct during the U.S. Capitol assault in an incendiary interview published Thursday, saying he did not regret summoning his rioting supporters to Washington.
He told The Washington Post he would have accompanied his ultra-loyal followers as they marched on the complex on January 6 last year, but was stopped by his security detail.
He offered no contrition for whipping up the crowd with bogus claims that victory was stolen from him through widespread fraud — although he was clear in his condemnation of the violence that ensued.
"Secret Service said I couldn't go. I would have gone there in a minute," he said, in the wide-ranging interview, adding that it was the largest crowd he had ever spoken to.
Thousands of Mr. Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol last year in an effort to halt the peaceful transfer of power after Joe Biden won a decisive victory in 2020, described by the government as one of the most secure elections in U.S. history.
Mr. Trump repeatedly boasted about the "tremendous" size of the crowd at his rally ahead of the riot and glossed over his explosive rhetoric that whipped up the crowd.
"I don't know what that means, but you see very few pictures. They don't want to show pictures, the fake news doesn't want to show pictures," he said.
ACS Ignite, a start-up event aimed at empowering deep science start-ups to raise funding and mentorship was organised by the Student Chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in collaboration with ACS and Fortytwo at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) on Thursday. Over twenty start-ups got a platform to pitch their ideas to Venture Capitalists, who would go on to provide access to networks and funds.
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) has been chosen, along with IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, and IISc. Bengaluru, to establish centres of excellence (CoE) by the Wadhwani Foundation in Bioengineering and Biotechnology with a funding support of $1 million annually.