Trump urged the protesters to "peacefully and patriotically" march to the Capitol. He also exhorted the crowd to "fight like hell," stating that "if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore." But how is that any different from the rhetoric I've heard from virtually every Democrat candidate, going all the way back to the 60's?
It was Jan 6th the year after a federal election. I don't think you can find a democrat in post Nixon era that bellowed out a more vile, disgusting screed after losing every single challenge he made in court to his election fraud claims leading up to the riot and fail coup attempt. Was it just Democrats?
"January 6th was a disgrace. American citizens attacked their own government. They use terrorism to try to stop a specific piece of domestic business they did not like. Fellow Americans beat and bloodied our own police. They stormed the center floor. They tried to hunt down the Speaker of the House. They built a gallows and chatted about murdering the vice president. They did this because they'd been fed wild, falsehoods by the most powerful man on earth because he was angry. He lost an election. Former President Trump's actions preceded the riot or a disgraceful dereliction of duty. The House accused the former president of quote "Incitement". That is a specific term from the criminal law. Let me just put that aside for a moment and reiterate something I said weeks ago. There's no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it.
Mitch McConnell: (
01:46)
The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president and having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole, which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth. The issue is not only the president in temperate language on January 6th. It is not just his endorsement of remarks in which an associate urged quote "Trial by combat". It was also the entire manufactured atmosphere of looming catastrophe. The increasingly wild myths about a reverse landslide election that was somehow being stolen. Some secret coup by our now president.
Mitch McConnell: (
03:09)
Now I defended the president's right to bring any complaints to our legal system. The legal system spoke, the electoral college spoke. As I stood up and said, clearly at that time, the election was settled. It was over, but that just really opened a new chapter of even wilder and more unfounded claims. The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things. I sadly many politicians sometimes make overheated comments or use metaphors. We saw that. That unhinged listeners might take literally, but that was different. That's different from what we saw. This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories orchestrated by an outgoing president who seemed determined to either overturn the voter's decision or else torch our institutions on the way out. The unconscionable behavior did not end when the violence actually began.
Mitch McConnell: (
04:47)
Whatever our ex president claims he thought might happen a day, whatever right reaction he's says he meant to produce by that afternoon we know he was watching the same live television as the rest of us. A mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name, these criminals who are carrying his banners, hanging his flags and screaming their loyalty to him. It was obvious that only President Trump could end this. He was the only one who could. Former aides publicly begged him to do so. Loyal allies frantically called the administration. The president did not act swiftly. He did not do his job. He didn't take steps so federal law could be faithfully executed and order restored. No, instead, according to public reports, he watched television happily as the chaos unfolded. He kept pressing his scheme to overturn the election. Now, even after it was clear to any reasonable observer that Vice President Pence was in serious danger. Even as the mob carrying Trump banners was beating cops and breaching perimeters their president sent a further tweet, attacking his own vice president.
