CNN host John King praised President Donald Trump’s video message released Wednesday condemning the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th by saying, “amen and thank you, Mr. President.”
Trump condemned the violence that took place at the Capitol in the video and called on people from all political spectrums to remain peaceful. He also condemned the “unprecedented assault” on free speech, referring to the crackdown on conservatives that has been taking place within various social media platforms.
“Amen and thank you, Mr. President,” King began. “Strong words saying violence has no place, stand down. If you support me you are not representing me, you’re attacking me. Stop it. Don’t do it. Stand down. Great.”
King then went on to ask where that condemnation was last week while the storming of the Capitol was taking place, before saying that Kevin McCarthy and others had called on the President to tell the rioters to “stand down” and “go home.” Trump did release a video and put out a tweet asking the rioters to remain peaceful while the event was ongoing.
King continued both praising Trump for his statement’s content, but condemning him over its timing. He also mentioned that this may help with Senate Republicans in terms of an impeachment trial. Prior to Trump’s statement, the House of Representatives voted to impeach him for the second time, with ten Republican House members joining the Democrats by voting in favor. (RELATED: House Votes To Impeach President Trump For The Second Time)
“This is, again, a welcome statement, as I said earlier. Everything the president says now will impact the votes in the Senate,” King continued. “He did not mention impeachment but he’s well aware of what happened today, obviously. And this will help him. This will help him in the moment with Senate Republicans, that he did something responsible. I think if you look at the context of the Trump presidency a lot of people who watch that video will say where was that man? Who was that man?”