January 6, 2021, 4:01 pm*
Donald Trump has issued an official video statement on the current situation at the U.S. Capitol in which thousands of his own fans stormed the building, fought with police, and forced an evacuation of lawmakers and staff.
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In the 61-second video statement, Trump urged the mob to remain peaceful and go home, but many have accused him of fueling the flames at the same time by continuing to insist that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
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“I know your pain, I know your hurt,” he begins. “We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side, but you have to go home now. We have to have peace, we have to have law and order, we have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt.”
Things are so bad that Twitter disabled the ability to share, comment on, or even like the video tweet, posting a disclaimer that this is “due to a risk of violence.” Facebook removed the video entirely and Twitter soon followed suit.
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There have already been several reports of injuries at the Capitol, including one woman who was reportedly shot in the neck inside the building and was rushed to an ambulance.
Even after Trump told his mob to go home, he took plenty of time to stroke their egos and let them know how much he loves them.
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“So go home, we love you, you’re very special,” he said. “You’ve seen what happens, you see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel.”
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Trump critics, and even some who have supported him, have panned his message as not doing enough to convince the mob to stand down. It certainly appears to have had no effect on the situation on the ground, where his fans are still on the Capitol steps the building is being swept by the FBI SWAT team for remaining intruders.
“Trump’s pre-recorded statement is just more of the same: Ranting about the stolen election, ‘landslide’, ‘everybody knows it’, etc,” said film writer Norm Wilner. “Even now, nothing matters to him except winning. Impeach him again. There’s nothing left to lose but the goddamn country.”
CNN’s Abby Phillip has also been among the first of likely many people who will point out the discrepancies between today and how Trump reacted to Black Lives Matter protesters in D.C.
“Every block of this city was in lockdown because of Black Lives Matter protesters,” she said. “Now you have thousands of armed protesters who happen to all be Trump supporters, who are mostly not Black Lives Matter protesters; they’re mostly white, and they’re storming the Capitol with violence, someone has been shot, glasses being broken, lawmakers are in lockdown wearing gas masks, and looking at these pictures, where is law enforcement?”
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There have been multiple reports that Trump has refused to put out a stronger statement urging his mob to stop committing violence and threatening lawmakers, possibly because “he’s mad at Mike Pence.”
*First Published: January 6, 2021, 2:38 pm
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