He criticized Whitmer when the kidnapping plot was revealed and fished for compliments. Gretchen Whitmer, after Trump had stoked outrage over the state’s pandemic safety measures. In October, he equivocated on condemnation of the domestic terrorists who allegedly planned to kidnap Michigan Gov. And at the first presidential debate of the 2020 election, the president shocked many viewers when he was given an opportunity to condemn white supremacists, but declined. In August, he defended a teenage supporter who shot three people at a Black Lives Matter protest. In some cases, Trump denounces the violence, but he often walks back such statements, returning to a message of hate and harm. That same year, a Florida man threatened to burn down a house next to his because a Muslim family purchased it, claiming that Trump’s Muslim ban made it a reason for “concern.” Then there are the more widely known examples, like Cesar Sayoc, who mailed 16 inoperative pipe bombs to Democratic leaders and referred to Trump as a “surrogate father” and the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, in 2019 that left 23 dead, where the shooter’s manifesto parroted Trump’s rhetoric about immigrants. In 2016, a white man told officers “Donald Trump will fix them” while being arrested for threatening his Black neighbors with a knife. In fact, dozens of people enacted violence in Trump’s name in the years before the Capitol attack, according to a 2020 report from ABC News. Trump’s messaging on January 6 is precisely in line with how he’s historically addressed violence on the part of hate groups and his supporters: He emboldens it.Īs far back as 2015, Trump has been connected to documented acts of violence, with perpetrators claiming that he was even their inspiration.
In a last-minute video message, Trump told the crowd to go home - then told them he loved them and believes they’re “very special.” Throughout the day, Trump continued to falsely claim that the election was stolen without any evidence to support this unreality, further riling up his followers to “take the country back.” By mid-afternoon, the Capitol building was breached and one member of the mob had been shot and fatally wounded.
He told a crowd rallying south of the White House to “walk down to the Capitol,” adding, “You will never take back our country with weakness.”Īt Trump’s behest, throngs of his supporters descended on Washington, DC, to dispute the results of the presidential election, climbing the steps of the Capitol and busting through its doors and windows. On the very day that Congress counted the electoral votes that certified President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Trump opened up the US Capitol to an insurrection.
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