Trump thanks Ginni Thomas for sticking to stolen election lies

‘According to the standard and routine leaks from the committee ... she said that she still believes the 2020 election was stolen,’ Mr Trump says at rally

Former president Donald Trump on Saturday offered a shout-out to the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for continuing to parrot his lies about the 2020 election in an interview with the House January 6 select committee.

Mr Trump praised Ms Thomas during remarks at his most recent political rally in Michigan, calling her “a great woman” who is the wife of “a great man”.

“According to the standard and routine leaks from the committee ... she said that she still believes the 2020 election was stolen,” he said.

Mr Trump added that many Republicans who choose not to repeat his baseless and outlandish theories about the 2020 election are “weak” and “wilt under pressure”.

“They better get strong fast or you're not going to have a Republican party and you're not going to have a country anymore,” he said.

Ms Thomas sat for an interview with the House January 6 committee on Thursday, a day after the panel postponed its final public due to Hurricane Ian bearing down on Florida. Ms Thomas texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows with ideas to overturn the 2020 election, and she pressured officials in Arizona and Washington to alter the results.

Ms Thomas entered the purview of the select committee after The Washington Post and CBS News reported on her text messages to Mr Meadows about potential ways to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

The panel had planned to hold its final hearing before the election on Wednesday. But Hurricane Ian meant the committee had to postpone it since Representative Stephanie Murphy, a member of the committee, is from Florida.