Trump ally Rep. Chip Roy texted Mark Meadows 'this is a sh*tshow' and 'fix this now' during January 6 riot
- CNN obtained text messages between the former White House chief of staff and Republican lawmakers.
- Texts show Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, berating Mark Meadows during the January 6 riot.
A staunch ally in Donald Trump's failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election results ripped into Trump's chief of staff on January 6, declaring the insurrection was "a sh*tshow" and demanding the White House stop the attack.
Newly revealed text messages between Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows provide a window into how the president's team was communicating with his congressional allies Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol.
"This is a sh*tshow," Rep. Chip Roy wrote to Meadows amid the riot on January 6. "Fix this now."
Meadows replied simply, "We are."
CNN reported on Friday on a new tranche of text messages between Meadows and conservative lawmakers, activists, media personalities, and lawyers as Trump sought dubious legal avenues for reclaiming the White House following his loss to President-elect Joe Biden.
Roy took a different tone for much of the winter, strategizing with Meadows after the November election about Republican messaging around Trump's effort to overturn the election, the texts reveal.
"If you're still in the game... dude, we need ammo. We need fraud examples. We need it this weekend," Roy texted Meadows on November 7, 2020, the day that major news outlets called the election for Biden.
"We need a controlled message ASAP," Roy texted Meadows on November 20, 2020. Meadows replied he was "Working on it."
At one point, Roy told Meadows that "friggin Rudy needs to hush," in reference to Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who pushed multiple false theories and baseless legal arguments to support his claims that the election had been stolen from Trump.
Roy's cooperative tone stopped abruptly on January 6, however, as thousands of Trump supporters invaded the Capitol building in an attempt to stop Congress and Vice President Mike Pence from certifying Biden's win. Lawmakers were forced to flee the House and Senate chambers and go into hiding for hours while rioters ransacked the building.
The mob was motivated by Trump and his Republican allies' repeated, false claims that the election had been stolen from Trump.
On Friday afternoon, Roy responded to the publication of his texts with Meadows by tweeting, "No apologies for my private texts or public positions - to those on the left or right. I stand behind seeking truth, fighting nonsense, & then acting in defense of the Constitution."