Read @PhilipRucker’s account of the day democracy was breached, the pandemonium a natural culmination of what Trump & complaint Republicans have wrought on the nation they swore an oath to protect.
washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
Since his first presidential campaign, Trump has instigated his supporters to express their political views through physical demonstration and violence, and he has declined time and again to repudiate the actions of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other extremists.
Prompted in a presidential debate last fall to condemn white supremacists and right-wing militia-style groups, Trump instead gave extremists an open invitation to act. “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” Trump said Oct. 2.
During his 4 years in office, Trump has been enabled & abetted by his Cabinet & staff, his family members & a battery of Republican elected officials — including the scores of House & Senate members who had indulged the president by vowing to object to certifying Biden’s victory.
Ivanka tweeted that the rioters were “American Patriots." Trump's personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani — who hours earlier had suggested at a rally that the election be decided by a “trial by combat” — tweeted to the occupiers, “you are on the right side of the law & history.”
POTUS himself fomented the uprising, encouraging followers to march to the Capitol “to try & give [lawmakers] the kind of pride & boldness that they need to take back our country.” He said he would walk with them, then left for the security of the White House, where he remained.
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