Donald Trump finally 'unequivocally' condemns violence, claims he was 'shocked' at Capitol 'calamity' and pleads with his supporters 'no lawbreaking' as he reads video message from the Oval Office
President Donald Trump delivered another taped video address to the nation Wednesday following his impeachment in the House over 'incitement of insurrection' – where he repeatedly denounced violence following the MAGA riot in the Capitol.
His pre-taped comment came after Democrats repeatedly accused him of causing the riot that left six dead and the Capitol vandalized but did not mention that he had been impeached again, an unprecedented rebuke of a president.
Ten House Republicans joined Democrats in voting 232-197 for a House impeachment article – setting up a Senate trial even after Trump leaves office – something he only belatedly acknowledged he would do.
Trump spoke straight to the camera, as he did in a previous video where he acknowledged last week for the first time that there would be a transition in power the day after his supporters invaded the Capitol and clashed with Capitol Police, leaving one officer dead. Another took his own life after the riots.
This time, Trump didn't tweet out the statement, because Twitter has blocked his account after the Capitol riot that killed five. Instead it came from the official White House account, which Twitter told NBC News was permitted.
The president said the riot 'angered and appalled millions of Americans across the political spectrum.'
'I want to be very clear. I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week,' Trump said, clearly reading from a prompter.
'Violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country – and no place in our movement.'
His appeal came amid warnings from law enforcement of further violence during the handover on January 20 – and grave threats to his own political future through impeachment. The Senate is not only moving ahead with a trial, but will hold a vote to bar Trump from holding future office if he is convicted.
His statements were unequivocal – but followed a series of public comments where he made statements that could be seen to justify violence with a wink, including telling his supporters at the speech in The Ellipse before they marched on the Capitol: 'We're going to have to fight much harder.'
'We're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them, because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong,' he said then - a stark contrast to his address from the Oval Office.
Trump on Wednesday defended his movement, after rioters decked out in Trump gear were seen fighting with police, and even beating officers with American flags.
Address: Trump issued a speech delivered from a teleprompter at the Resolute Desk, in which he said 'unequivocally' condemned violence and was'shocked at the calamity at the Capitol' - the opposite of accounts of him watching transfixed and being unwilling to call it off as it happened. He did not mention his impeachment which Nancy Pelosi signed off on as the speech emerged
It comes to this: Trump had to use the official White House account to issue his speech after being banned from Twitter. Twitter said: 'This Tweet is not in violation of the Twitter Rules. As we previously made clear, other official administration accounts, including @WhiteHouse, are permitted to Tweet as long as they do not demonstrably engage in ban evasion or share content that otherwise violates the Twitter Rules.'
MAGA mob: Trump did not use the speech to acknowledge any responsibility for the desecration of the Capitol for which he is being impeached, but came closer than before by saying to his supporters of violence and lawbreaking: 'If you do any of this you do not support our movement.'
'Making America Great Again has always been about defending the rule of law, supporting the men and women of law enforcement and upholding our nation's most sacred traditions and values,' said Trump, who made 'law and order' and overriding theme of his campaign,' he said.
'Mob violence goes against everything I believe in and everything our movement stands for,' said Trump.
Lawmakers have combed over his January 6 speech, where he urged supporters to march on the Capitol to protest an election result he called 'rigged' while Congress was meeting to count the electoral votes.
'No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence, no true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law enforcement or our great American flag,' said Trump.
'No true supporter of mine could ever threaten or harass their fellow Americans. If you do any of these things you are not supporting our movement, you are attacking it, and you are attacking our country,' he added.
'We cannot tolerate it. We have seen political violence spiral out of control.'
His appeal for calm, just a week before he is to leave office, comes amid extraordinary repercussions for his future and the party he effectively took over. A series of major corporations have released statements saying they would withhold future PAC campaign contributions to the scores of Republicans who voted not to seat electors from states that sent certified votes to Washington, not withstanding Trump's unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud.
There have been business setbacks as well – with New York City saying it will end contracts with the Trump Organization and top lender Deutsche Bank saying it will part ways with Trump. A break with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell points to a coming split between Trumpists and those who want to end their alliance with him. Three Trump cabinet members quit since Wednesday, and some White House aides walked amid concerns they may no longer be employable due to their association with Trump.
Trump also tried to connect the violence committed by his supporters to violence and vandalism at protests this summer – a tactic his supporters also used on the floor in his defense.
'We have seen too many riots, too many mobs, too many acts of intimidation and destruction. Whether you are on the right or the left, a Democrat or a Republican, there is never a justification for violence. No excuses, no exceptions. America is a nation of laws,' Trump said.
'Those who engaged in the attacks last week will be brought to justice,' he said – with hundreds of law enforcement officers opening hundreds of cases to try to bring perpetrators to justice.
In the wake of the riots, an estimated 20,000 National Guard are being deployed in the Capitol, the Capitol is surrounded by a tall fence, and officials are warning of the potential for further violence.
The video came hours after a statement sent from the White House as the impeachment debate was taking place.
'In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You,' the statement read.
The White House blasted the statement out to its press list after Twitter, Facebook and Instagram froze Trump's social media accounts for inciting violence. Spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany also tweeted it from her official press secretary account and the Trump campaign texted it to followers.
The statement contained several words in ALL CAPS - which was a regular feature of Trump's tweets.
Trump on had Tuesday denied all responsibility for last week's riot, saying his fiery speech to his supporters before they marched on the Capitol was 'totally appropriate.'
In his first public remarks since Wednesday's MAGA storming of the Capitol, the president slammed Democrats, accusing them of creating 'tremendous danger' with their attempt to remove him from office but said repeatedly he wanted 'no violence.'
The president defended his speech at a rally on ellipse, where he encouraged his thousands of supporters to 'march' on the Capitol.
They did so, leaving five dead and a path of destruction in their wake in the form of busted windows, broken furniture and destroyed office space. Dozens have now been rounded up by police and FBI.
'If you read my speech - and many people have done it and I've seen it both in the papers and in the media, on television, it is been analyzed - and people thought that what I said was totally appropriate,' he said as he boarded Air Force One to head for Alamo, Texas, on the Mexican border, to inspect his wall.
'They've analyzed my speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence and everybody to a tee thought it was totally appropriate,' he continued. He offered no indication of who 'they' are.
Trump also denounced the Democrats' efforts to remove him from office, which has been joined by some Republicans, to remove him from office - and called it a 'danger,' not his supporters' actions.
But, he said he wanted no violence from his supporters. Trump reportedly had initially enjoyed the sight of his supporters on Capitol Hill last week, fighting for him to illegally take a second term in the White House. He changed his tune and called on them to stand down when he warned he could be held legally responsible for their actions.
'We want no violence, never violence. We want absolutely no violence,' he said repeatedly Tuesday before he left for Texas to tout the completion of a section of his border wall.
'And on the impeachment, it's really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics. It's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. This impeachment is causing tremendous anger,' he said.
He denounced Democratic leaders but made no mention of the Republicans who have called on him to leave office.
'It's really a terrible thing that they're doing for Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to continue on this path. I think it's causing tremendous danger to our country, and it's causing tremendous anger, I want no violence,' he said.
That calculus appeared however to have changed with the new video, issued after the House voted 232-197 to impeach him for a second time for 'incitement of insurrection,' exactly a week after the MAGA mob stormed Capitol Hill.
The Democratic majority was joined by 10 Republicans, making the House's move bipartisan - unlike Trump's first impeachment less than 13 months ago.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he would not bring the Senate back before January 19, the day before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. It means that Trump cannot be removed from office before he leaves anyway.
McConnell's move was revealed as the House debated the impeachment article. Then he added to the drama with a statement suggesting he could convict, saying: 'While the press has been full of speculation, I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate.'
Just before he entered history as the first president to be impeached twice, the White House put out a statement from Trump, which called for peace but did not address his impeachment.
'In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You,' the president's statement said.
Later, after the impeachment vote, Trump put out a video message.
The call for calm did nothing to quell a Republican rebellion against him, led by the House number three Liz Cheney, which ended with a total of 10 GOP members voting to impeach Trump.
Halfway through the debate another defiant Republican, Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, said: 'Turning a blind eye to this brutal assault on our Republic is not an option.
'A vote against impeachment is a vote to validate this unacceptable violence we witnessed in our nation's capital. It is also a vote to condone President Trump's inaction. He did not strongly condemn the attack nor did he call in reinforcements when our officers were overwhelmed.'
'Our country needed a leader and President Trump failed to fulfill his oath of office,' Newhouse added. His floor speech got Democratic applause.
The 10 votes make the impeachment the most bipartisan ever, another historical marker which also creates a deep split in the Republican party which is unlikely to end with Trump's departure.
The vote ended with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, in the chair, declaring the count of 232 to 197 - but with silence from the Democrats and handful of Republicans still present. Pelosi had warned her members not to celebrate the outcome.
'We're heartbroken over what this means to our country,' Pelosi said at the engrossment ceremony for the article of impeachment that took place Wednesday evening. 'To have a president who incites insurrection.'
She said she 'sadly' signed the documents.
It concluded a day of debate in which Pelosi had called Trump a 'clear and present danger,' as Democrats said they were standing in a 'crime scene' and demanded that Trump pay a price for a campaign of 'lies and conspiracy theories' which had fomented violence.
Trump's Republican allies did not defend Trump's behavior, but instead pitched censuring the president or launching a 9/11-style commission, more fitting punishments they argued for someone who was already leaving office.
Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, went as far to say Trump's conduct was impeachable, but wouldn't vote for the article, calling it 'flawed.'
The Republican revolt was led by Cheney, the number three in the caucus and party royalty as the daughter of the former vice president Dick Cheney.
She had issued a fiery denunciation of Trump when she announced her vote 24 hours earlier, saying he 'lit the flame on insurrection' but did not speak on the floor.
In the Senate, which will have to hold a trial of Trump in the wake of the vote as soon as it receives the article, McConnell's announcement that he is willing to convict raises new questions about how Republicans will vote when the trial happens.
So far only Sen. Mitt Romney appears certain to back conviction, while on Wednesday Sen. Lindsey Graham accused McConnell of risking more violence by backing impeachment. No other Republican senator has made their position public.
Impeachment is by a two-thirds majority of the Senate, which in principle means the 50 Democrats have to be joined by 17 Republicans, but in fact it is only a majority of those present, meaning some GOP members could stay away to let a vote go through without actively taking part.
In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer continued to push McConnell to reconvene the Senate sooner - but said there would be a trial no matter what.
'A Senate trial can begin immediately, with agreement from the current Senate Majority Leader to reconvene the Senate for an emergency session, or it will begin after January 19th,' Schumer said.
'But make no mistake, there will be an impeachment trial in the United States Senate; there will be a vote on convicting the president for high crimes and misdemeanors; and if the president is convicted, there will be a vote on barring him from running again.'
Bringing down the hammer: Nancy Pelosi gavels the end of the voting and declares that Donald Trump has been impeached again 232-197 - 10 of the majority votes coming from Republicans
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signs the article of impeachment against President Donald Trump at an engrossment ceremony after the vote Wednesday night
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds up the article of impeachment after signing it at an engrossment ceremony Wednesday night on Capitol Hill
The article of impeachment against President Donald Trump sits on a table before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at an engrossment ceremony after Wednesday's vote
Photographers lean over the article of impeachment Wednesday on Capitol Hill trying to get a good shot before an engrossment ceremony with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Republican House number three Liz Cheney (right) led 10 of the House GOP into voting for impeachment - but is now facing a backlash from Trump ultra-loyalists. She was see n speaking to Jamie Raskin, one of the key Democrats pushing for Trump's impeachment and removal
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