This article from 6/12/2022 explains why tfg wanted to go to the Capitol so badly

[Ohio Joe]

Trump wanted to be at the Capitol riot because his presence would have been the key to a successful coup, historian speculates

Former President Donald Trump's presence at the Capitol during the January 6, 2021, attack would have been a critical factor in accomplishing a successful coup that day, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a historian and a professor at New York University who studies fascism and authoritarian leaders, said.

Ben-Ghiat told CNN's Jim Acosta on Saturday that it was "interesting" how recent reports said Trump had wanted to march with his supporters to the Capitol but was stopped by the Secret Service.

That revelation was first published in an April interview that the former president gave to The Washington Post.

Last week, The Post also reported that the Secret Service initially formed a quick plan to transport Trump from the White House to the Capitol following his speech at the Ellipse on the day of the attack. Despite pressure from the then-president, the effort did not come to fruition, and Trump was taken back to the White House instead.

"This is consistent with if you're having a coup, and you've summoned everybody, and you expect to be anointed as the head of illegitimate government. You have to be there," Ben-Ghiat said, referring to Trump.

https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-presence-capitol-riot-key-successful-coup-expert-says-2022-6

There is no doubt... It was a coup.

[Abolishinist]

1. Although what ulitimately happened was bad enough,

this would have been chilling... and yes, there is no doubt that, had he been there, his 'supporters' would have done immeasurable damage to what I now know to be our fragile democracy.

[Jim__]

2. Absolutely. When they told Mike Pence to get in the car he refused. Not so with pretend ...

... tough guy Trump.

Trump got in the car and went where his handlers took him. Yes, he threw food, and stamped his feet, and probably held his breath. But, in the end, Trump went where they told him to go. Trump is not at all the tough guy he pretends to be.

If Trump had actually gone to the capitol that day, the electoral votes probably would not have been counted. We would have had a true constitutional crisis. Trump backed down.

[TheRealNorth]

4. Good point.

I would have thought that he could have got out of the car and walked with his Fascist mob. Of course, he may have had a heart attack before he got to the Capitol (nobody brought a golf cart for him).

[Ocelot II]

3. I am certain that this is what TFG wanted to do, and why he wanted to do it.

He's all about the optics, and he needed that spectacle of himself in the House chamber surrounded by his "soldiers." When it didn't happen he lost his shit; he knew he no longer had a chance at that triumphant scene. And thank God or whoever or just dumb luck for that.

[irisblue]

5. Professor Ben-Ghiat is a long time scholar of fascism & authoritarian regimes

especially the Italian ones. Her bibliography is impressive.

[gratuitous]

6. All about projecting an image of power

"I was at the Capitol on January 6! Joe Biden (insert insulting nickname of your choice) wasn't there, because he knew he didn't win the election! When the real Americans turned out for me, the weaklings who tried to steal the election ran away, but not all of them made it, did they (insert smirk here)."

We should promulgate the notion that the former guy lost his nerve, and he ran back to the White House to hide that day. Say it often enough and get it out there enough, and I'd bet a shiny nickel it would cause the former guy to come out with some toughguy pose to say he didn't skedaddle like a frightened rabbit that day.