In a video posted to YouTube yesterday, President Donald Trump urged unity and calm in the aftermath of armed protestors storming the US Capitol.
In the two-and-a-half-minute video, the President said he was “horrified” by the events that unfolded only two days earlier in Washington DC. Despite seemingly encouraging the crowds before breaking and entering the building, Trump said in his video that the rioters “defiled the seat of American democracy” and “do not represent our country.”
Now that the electoral college has voted Joe Biden into office, Trump conceded to ensure a “smooth, orderly, seamless transition of power.” He assured his supporters that his team sought every legal way to contest the election’s results. However, he now urged that “we must get on with the business of America.”
He also stated that election laws needed reform in order to verify identity and thus create confidence in the system.
But for now, he said, the country needed to overcome this pandemic and rebuild “the greatest economy on earth.” He urged the country to remember its civic values, family, faith, and charity.
“It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve the American public,” Trump said in closing. “And to my supporters, our incredible journey is only just beginning.”
Despite the call for unity, many lawmakers are threatening impeachment for the President. According to Politico, House Democrats may move toward a second impeachment proceeding against Trump.
“It’s hard to exaggerate the culpability of this unhinged person,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats privately on Friday. “We cannot empower him.”
Even Republican Senators have questioned the President’s actions during the riots. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska recently told CNN he may vote to remove Trump from office in his final days.
He “wanted chaos on television,” Sasse said. And Trump was allegedly “confused about why other people on his team weren’t as excited as he was as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building.”
Related:
Christian Leaders Respond to the Storming of the U.S. Capitol Building
Former, Current Republican Lawmakers Respond to the Violence on Capitol Hill
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Tasos Katopodis/Stringer.
Video courtesy: The White House
Mikaela Mathews is a freelance writer and editor based in Dallas, TX. She was the editor of a local magazine and a contributing writer for the Galveston Daily News and Spirit Magazine.
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