‘Tremendous danger’: Trump breaks silence on Capitol riots, slams 'ridiculous' move
President Donald Trump has continued to deny he incited insurrection at the US Capitol last week and said a move to impeach him was “absolutely ridiculous”.
As Trump spoke for the first time to reporters since the anarchy while boarding the Air Force One to Texas on Tuesday, he took no responsibility for the riot which left five people dead and occurred after his speech on January 6.
During an address on the day of the riots last week, Trump had encouraged supporters to march to the US Capitol where Electoral College votes from the November election were being certified in a ritual that would officially pronounce Democrat Joe Biden the next US President.
Speaking for more than an hour to a crowd, Trump encouraged supporters to “fight like hell” and suggested that Republican lawmakers would need “more courage not to step up” and overturn the will of voters to grant him another term in office.
His supporters later stormed the US Capitol building, smashing windows and breaking into offices.
As rioters were still in the building and lawmakers sheltered in secure locations, Trump, at the urging of aides who were shocked by the violence, released a video seemingly excusing the events, saying of the rioters: “We love you. You’re very special. Go home.”
In his speech today, Trump has blamed Democratic rivals and not himself for the “tremendous anger” in the country.
“People thought what I said was totally inappropriate,” the President said.
However, he claimed the “real problem” was not his rhetoric, but the rhetoric that Democrats used to describe Black Lives Matter protests and violence in Seattle and Portland last year.
Impeachment bid causing ‘tremendous danger’
With just a week left with Trump as the commander in chief, he will face a charge of “incitement of insurrection” as House Democrats push forward in their bid to oust the US President in the wake of the Capitol riots.
He targeted the lawmakers who are pushing for his ouster, saying that it’s “a really terrible thing that they’re doing”.
“To continue on this path, I think it’s causing tremendous danger to our country, and it’s causing tremendous anger,” Trump said as he left the White House.
He accepted no blame for the Capitol attack and said, “I want no violence”.
"As far as this is concerned, we want no violence, never violence, we want absolutely no violence. And on the impeachment, it's really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics.
“It's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous.”
If the President is impeached before his term is officially up, he will lose a litany of perks he was due to receive for the rest of his life.
Under the Former Presidents Act enacted in 1958, the former most powerful men in the world are eligible for a pension, office allowances, Secret Service protection and travel expenses.
However if impeached, the controversial politician could lose not only his own pay check, but his wife Melania’s as well.
with AP
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