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Shortly after former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson appeared before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, social media users supportive of former President Donald Trump raced to undermine key moments from her testimony.
Hutchinson was an aide to Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows. Hutchinson said Tony Ornato, the top White House aide for security, told her that Trump, after his Jan. 6 rally insisted on going to the U.S. Capitol with his supporters. And as he was being driven back to the White House, Trump lunged for the steering wheel after Secret Service agents refused to take him to the Capitol, Hutchinson said Ornato told her..
Although Hutchinson testified under oath on June 28, some social media users implied or explicitly argued that she was not telling the truth about Trump.
Several widespread posts on Facebook showed an image of Trump riding in the back-row seat of a presidential limousine commonly referred to as "the Beast," far from the driver. The posts suggested that Trump was riding in the same limousine on Jan. 6 and therefore could not have reached for the steering wheel. (Hutchinson repeatedly referred to "the Beast" as she testified before the committee.)