President Donald Trump called for peace in a video after a mob of his supporters violently breached the Capitol building on Wednesday in protest of the certification of the 2020 election results for Democrat Joe Biden.
“I know your pain. I know your hurt,” Trump stated. “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,” he said. “It’s a very tough period of time. There has never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us — from me, from you, from our country.”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1346928882595885058?s=20
Trump continued his message by telling his supporters to go home even if they were upset about voter fraud and election integrity.
“This was a fraudulent election. But 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,” Trump 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. But go home and go home in peace,” he added.
Trump’s message — which Twitter flagged as a “claim of election fraud” that is “disputed,” prohibiting people from liking the tweet, replying to it, or responding to it “due to a risk of violence” — comes after multiple members of Congress condemned the chaos and called on the protesters to leave.
.@SenSchumer and I are calling on President Trump to demand that all protestors leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol grounds immediately. pic.twitter.com/z6D8qb6bpe
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 6, 2021
I support peaceful protests but not violence and destruction. People need to leave the Capitol now!
This is a national embarrassment.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 6, 2021
Violence is always unacceptable. Even when passions run high.
Anyone engaged in violence—especially against law enforcement—should be fully prosecuted.
God bless the Capitol Police and the honorable men & women of law enforcement who show great courage keeping all of us safe.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 6, 2021
Vice President Mike Pence previously called for people to leave the Capitol building, saying that “those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“The violence and destruction taking place at the US Capitol Must Stop and it Must Stop Now. Anyone involved must respect Law Enforcement officers and immediately leave the building,” he wrote on Twitter. “Peaceful protest is the right of every American but this attack on our Capitol will not be tolerated and those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Peaceful protest is the right of every American but this attack on our Capitol will not be tolerated and those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) January 6, 2021
President-elect Biden also denounced the Capitol chaos, calling on the “disorder” to end.
Let me be very clear: the scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not represent who we are. What we are seeing is a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent, it's disorder. It borders on sedition, and it must end. Now.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 6, 2021
During the breach of the Capitol, a woman was reportedly shot in the chest and is in critical condition.
A woman is in critical condition after being shot in the chest on the Capitol grounds, per @NoahGrayCNN. No other details were provided.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 6, 2021
