Eight days from the end of his presidency, President Trump expressed no regret for his comments Wednesday ahead of a riot and mob violence at the U.S. Capitol that resulted in the deaths of at least five people and multiple others injured.
“People thought that what I said was totally appropriate,” Trump said Tuesday when asked about his role in the siege, despite many at the highest levels of government — Republican and Democrat — saying otherwise, three of his Cabinet members having resigned and a second impeachment effort now underway.
Trump continued by deflecting reporters’ questions and shifting focus.
“And if you look at what other people have said, politicians at a high level, about the riots during the summer, the horrible riots in Portland and Seattle and various other places, that was a real problem — what they said,” Trump claimed, referring to protests over racial inequality and police brutality.
He went on to say of his own speech that “everybody — to the T — thought it was totally appropriate.” He later added, “You have to always avoid violence.”
Trump made the comments to reporters on his way to Texas for a visit to one of his signature campaign promises — the border wall.
What Trump — and his son Donald Trump Jr. and his attorney Rudy Giuliani — said Wednesday at a rally on the Ellipse outside the White House has been roundly criticized by various members of Congress — both Democrats and Republicans — who were in direct danger.
Cabinet secretaries reportedly discussed enacting the 25th Amendment to remove him from office and past officials, including two former chiefs of staff to the president, have been critical.
Trump put out two videos in response to the violence at the Capitol. The first sympathized with his supporters, but told them to “go home.”
Another, highly scripted one, said he was focused on an “orderly and seamless transition of power.”
