Donald Trump Reportedly Abandoned His Supporters As They Stormed The Capitol
Despite telling his supporters that he would walk to the Capitol with them, Donald Trump reportedly returned to the White House after the end of his Wednesday speech at The Ellipse in Washington, D.C.
“Per the pool report: President Trump’s motorcade just made it back to the White House despite him telling his supporters he was going to walk to the Capitol with them,” Politico reporter Eugene Daniels tweeted.
Mic corroborated Daniels’ reporting and noted the U.S. leader’s early departure.
“His supporters, meanwhile, began to violently storm various Capitol Hill buildings, energized by the words of a man who’d already broken his promise to them just minutes earlier.”
According to Mic, Trump used his speech to touch on the familiar topics of the media, the alleged interference he believes cost him the 2020 election, and supposed enemies such as Democrat Hillary Clinton. The publication claimed the head of state also made it clear he would not be admitting defeat and would continue to attempt to exert power over the Republican Party and America.
The Stop the Steal group linked to the rally allegedly has ties to GOP operative Roger Stone. As The Inquisitr reported, Stone created the movement in 2016 to drive fundraising during Trump’s battle against Clinton. The group claimed at the time that Republicans were trying to steal the nomination from Trump. They subsequently alleged that Democrats were trying to steal the election.
As noted by USA Today, the crowd of Trump supporters tried to breach the Capitol, which led to a lockdown and the evacuation of two congressional buildings. Terry Gainer, former chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, argued that he has never seen anything like Wednesday’s protests in his four decades of law enforcement.
“It’s dangerous. This is a much more hateful crowd incited by the president, himself. It’s definitely something new in our business.”
Gainer said that fencing around the Capitol building was breached but added that he did not believe anyone had gained access to the structure. According to Gainer, breaching the building would be “whoppingly difficult.”
“They would have to do serious damage to people or property. It would be unbelievably unlikely —but not impossible,” he continued.
Despite Trump’s opposition to the 2020 electoral votes, Democrat Joe Biden’s Electoral College win is set to be ratified on Wednesday in a process overseen by Vice President Mike Pence. Although Trump pressured Pence to object to the certification of Biden’s victory, the former Indiana governor revealed he would not be doing so in a letter to lawmakers released the same day as the ratification, CNN reported.
