Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s “rhetoric” is to blame for last Wednesday’s riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Calling the pro-Trump mob’s actions “a black mark on the country” during a Tuesday “The Daily Briefing” segment, Rivera told anchor Dana Perino and fellow panelist Jason Chaffetz that the riot would never have taken place without Trump’s instigation.
“He bears responsibility for that,” Rivera said.
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“Now were others similarly guilty in other riots and insurrections? Perhaps,” he continued. “But this was the first time where you had a direct connection between the president of the United States and the trashing of American democracy.”
The former talk show host, a friend of the president’s, explained that while Trump is likely to finish his term, President-elect Joe Biden will need to “pick up a shattered country and put it together.”
Earlier in the segment, Rivera criticized Democrats for their response to BLM riots over the summer, insisting they would “sound a lot more righteous and reasonable if they had reacted to the riots and the insurrections of the past summer with more verve and more honesty and more energy.” (RELATED: Ilhan Omar: Impeaching Trump Like Needing To ‘Hold A Murderer’ Accountable)
“Instead, they turned a blind eye,” he said. “I agree that the president incited what happened … If only the Democrats had played it straight for 3 1/2 years, maybe they’d have a case that people would listen to. But because they pursued this president, they hounded him . It was a witch hunt from the very beginning. They impeached him on that phoney Ukraine deal. Now when you have a case where an impeachment would seem more logical and more justified by the facts, you have Democrats coming in with dirty hands.”