Trump tweets Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild

On December 19, 2020, following a late-night White House meeting with outside advisers including Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell in which Trump was urged to seize voting machines and declare martial law, President Trump posts on Twitter: "Peter Navarro releases his 36-page report alleging election fraud 'more than sufficient' to swing victory to Trump. A great report by Peter. Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!" The tweet is the first public call to Washington for January 6 and is treated as a recruitment signal by far-right groups. The January 6 Committee documents that within hours of Trump's tweet, the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, and other militia groups begin coordinating travel to Washington and discussing plans to storm the Capitol. NPR analysis of court records from over 300 January 6 defendants shows the tweet was a primary catalyst for attendance. The tweet remains live for weeks; Twitter does not remove it. The January 6 Committee calls the tweet "a call to arms."