Fact Check: Was Impeachment Video Edited to Remove Trump's Call For Peace Before Riot?

Former President Donald Trump's highly anticipated second impeachment trial began on Tuesday, just a little more than a month following the riot at the U.S. Capitol Building during Congress' certification of the 2020 election results.

In his opening statements, lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) played a video montage of the events that occurred on January 6, including the speech by Donald Trump in which he encouraged his supporters to march to protest the results at the Capitol.

The Claim

Shortly after the montage aired and began working its way across the internet, Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN) tweeted footage claiming it was edited to leave out Trump's calls for peaceful protest moments before rioters stormed the Capitol.

Donald Trump Jr. also spoke out, saying the footage was "deceptively edited."

Convenient that they left this out of the opening video montage at the sham impeachment trial.

“Patriotically and peacefully...”pic.twitter.com/rUoblpZXwS

— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) February 9, 2021

The Facts

On Tuesday, Democrats began their case for convicting Trump for inciting an insurrection on the day of the election certification.

Leading up to January 6, Trump's claims of election fraud and many attempts to reverse President Joe Biden's victory resulted in his supporters traveling from across the country to Washington, D.C.

Raskin encouraged his colleagues to consider the consequences of not finding Trump responsible for the events that transpired.

"If we buy this radical argument that Trump's lawyers advance, we risk allowing January 6 to become our future," he said. "What will the January exception mean to future generations if you grant it? I'll show you."

The montage presented my Raskin shows the tens of thousands of Trump supporters at the Ellipse as he echoed unsubstantiated claims of a stolen election. It then cuts to rioters marching to and storming the Capitol before the conclusion of the speech, then returns to a later portion of Trump's remarks.

The compilation of footage from that day shows rioters overwhelming barricades, police and the Capitol Building, even as Trump's speech is occurring. But the clip tweeted by RSBN that shows Trump saying, "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol Building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard today."

That portion of Trump's speech is not found at any point during the video montage played before lawmakers at the trial Tuesday.

The Ruling

True.

According to a transcript of the speech and footage of it in its entirety, Trump did make the statement on January 6.

The video played at Trump's trial Tuesday showed the violence that occurred at the Capitol but does not include that part of his speech.

Trump at the "Stop The Steal" Rally
President Donald Trump arrives at the "Stop The Steal" Rally on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election. Trump's second impeachment trial stems from that day's Capitol riot. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
True: The claim is verifiably correct. Primary source evidence proves the claim to be true.
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