Sunday shows preview: Jan. 6 panel holds last hearing until September; Biden tests positive for COVID-19

The last in a series of summer hearings held by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and President Biden’s COVID-19 diagnosis are expected to dominate this week’s Sunday shows circuit.

The House panel held its latest hearing on Thursday, making the case that former President Trump took no action for hours as a mob of his supporters ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. 

The panel accused the former president of dereliction of duty as it examined the 187 minutes that took place between when Trump finished his remarks at the “Stop the Steal” rally that day until and when he issued a tweet telling his supporters to go home in the late afternoon. 

The committee relied on portions of taped depositions it aired for the public, including from officials like former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and in-person testimony from Trump White House officials Sarah Matthews and Matthew Pottinger.

Matthews criticized the tweets that Trump issued during the Jan 6. riot, including one criticizing former Vice President Pence’s refusal to reject the Electoral College vote. She likened the post to “pouring gasoline on the fire and making it much worse.” 

“The tweet looked to me like the opposite of what we really needed at that moment, which was a deescalation, and that’s why I had said earlier that it looked like fuel being poured on the fire,” Pottinger concurred during the hearing.

Also included in the committee’s Thursday hearing were outtakes of Trump’s video messages released during and after the Jan. 6 riot, including one in which he pushed back against some of the language condemning the rioters.

“’But this election is now over. Congress has certified the results’ — I don’t want to say the election’s over, I just want to say Congress has certified the results without saying the election’s over, OK?” Trump said in an outtake.

“’And to those who broke the law, you will pay. You do not represent our movement, you do not represent our country, and if you broke the law’ — can’t say that, I’m not gonna, I already said you will pay,” he said in a portion of another outtake.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the vice chair of the committee, said that the panel would resume holding more hearings in September given new evidence it received and new witnesses it was hearing from.

Members of the committee will appear on several Sunday shows, including Cheney, who will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” and “Fox News Sunday.” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) will appear on ABC’s “This Week” while Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) appears on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) will appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

President Biden is recovering from COVID-19 after the White House announced on Thursday that he had tested positive. 

The White House said that the president, who is 79 years old, was experiencing “very mild symptoms,” noting that he was fully vaccinated and had both booster shots.

Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician, said in an update on Saturday that the president had likely caught the BA.5 variant and noted that his symptoms included body aches, a sort throat, a loose cough and runny nose. O’Connor also noted that Biden has been taking the antiviral Paxlovid. 

Speaking to “CBS Saturday Morning,” top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said that Biden continued to improve and was working remotely.

“And so as we’ve said before, given the fact that he’s been vaccinated, doubly boosted and is receiving Paxlovid, a drug that clearly goes a long way to preventing progression of disease, we fully expect that he’s going to be doing very well,” Fauci said.

White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha is slated to appear on ABC’s “This Week,” CBS’s “Face the Nation” and  “Fox News Sunday.” 

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:

ABC’s “This Week” — Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.); Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Md.); former Vice President Al Gore; White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Gore; Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.); Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

CBS’s “Face the Nation” — Jha; Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.); Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo; Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova; Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Hogan; Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.); Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

“Fox News Sunday” — Cheney; Jha.

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson; Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.); House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.); Kari Lake, Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate (R)