Donald Trump is coming under criticism after an interview in which he entertained the idea of cash compensation for the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn the election.

Speaking to Newsmax host Greg Kelly, Trump bragged about giving pardons to some 1,500 rioters, including many convicted of violent crimes such as assaulting police officers.

“These people are incredible people,” Trump said. “They were treated so unfairly, so horribly.”

“There’s talk about that. We have a lot of people talk about it, a lot of the people that are in the government now talk about it because a lot of the people in government really like that group of people,” Trump said. “They were patriots as far as I was concerned.”