Trump returns to Twitter with video condemning rioters
Posted January 7, 2021 8:24 pm.
Last Updated January 7, 2021 9:01 pm.
President Donald Trump condemned the “heinous attack” of the U.S. Capitol in his return to Twitter on Thursday evening, adding he was “outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem.”
Trump also promised “a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power” in a video posted on the social medial platform, which had suspended him from tweeting for 12 hours on Wednesday evening.
“To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country, and to those who broke the law, you will pay, ” he said, in stark contrast to his tone the previous day.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2021
Trump’s suspension from the platform came after three tweets that Twitter deemed a breach of their Civic Integrity policy, including a video in which Trump addressed the riotous, violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to halt the confirmation of Biden’s presidential election win.
Related:
Twitter suspends Trump’s account for 12 hours for violations of ‘Civic Integrity Policy’
In that video he commiserated with the mob and reiterated that the election was stolen from him while also gently asking them to go home.
“I know your pain. I know your hurt. But you have to go home now,” he said. “We can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You’re very special,” he said.
In Thursday’s video, Trump claimed he “immediately deployed the national guard,” to quell the violence, in contradiction to reports the previous day that it was Vice-President Mike Pence who spoke with senior defence leaders about calling up the National Guard.
Related:
4 dead in chaos, violence as pro-Trump mob storms US Capitol
He added that he contested the election results so fiercely because he was “fighting to defend American democracy” and believes elections laws need to be reformed. He added that he will now focus on a smooth and seamless transition of power.
“This moment calls for healing and reconciliation,” he said, just over 24 hours after his rally in Washington, which is believed to have sparked the hours-long riot thereafter.
As officials sifted through the aftermath of the pro-Trump mob’s siege of the U.S. Capitol, there was growing discussion of impeaching him a second time or invoking the 25th Amendment to oust him from the Oval Office.
The invasion of the Capitol building, a powerful symbol of the nation’s democracy, rattled Republicans and Democrats alike. They struggled with how best to contain the impulses of a president deemed too dangerous to control his own social media accounts but who remains commander in chief of the world’s greatest military.
“I’m not worried about the next election, I’m worried about getting through the next 14 days,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s staunchest allies. He condemned the president’s role in Wednesday’s riots and said, “If something else happens, all options would be on the table.”
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that “the president of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America.” She called him “a very dangerous person who should not continue in office. This is urgent, an emergency of the highest magnitude.”
Neither option to remove Trump seemed likely, with little time left in his term to draft the Cabinet members needed to invoke the amendment or to organize the hearings and trial mandated for an impeachment. But the fact that the dramatic options were even the subject of discussion in Washington’s corridors of power served as a warning to Trump.
Fears of what a desperate president could do in his final days spread in the nation’s capital and beyond, including speculation Trump could incite more violence, make rash appointments, issue ill-conceived pardons – including for himself and his family – or even trigger a destabilizing international incident.
Files from The Associated Press were used in this report
