Democratic Colorado Rep. Jason Crow said Thursday on CNN that President Donald Trump “continues to be a violent and unstable” man and should de-escalate the current political climate by trying to “de-radicalize his supporters.”
Host Kate Bolduan asked Crow what he thought of Trump’s statement, released Wednesday, in which he condemned the violence that took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. (RELATED: Rep. Jason Crow, Former Army Ranger, Describes Going Into ‘Ranger Mode’ On House Floor As Rioters Stormed The Capitol)
“The President, you know, continues to be a very violent and unstable man. The overwhelming communications that have come out of this president have been violent and inciteful rhetoric,” Crow began. “We didn’t get to Jan. 6 overnight. This just didn’t happen in one day. This happened over years. The president has been building this. He has been radicalizing his most fringe supporters. You know, he started with dogwhistles and now this outright rhetoric by him and his top supporters. So talk is really cheap right now.”
In the statement Crow was addressing, Trump explicitly condemned the Capitol rioters. He said “violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country and our movement.” He also said that he had directed federal agencies to ensure a “peaceful” transfer of power.
However, Trump has spent much of his energy in recent months leveling and amplifying allegations of widespread election fraud, which he blames for his 2020 loss to President-elect Joe Biden. His rhetoric regarding the election results has been singled out by many critics as the cause for the riot at the Capitol.
“If the President wants to de-escalate this, what he will say is that President-elect Biden is the President of the United States and he was lawfully elected, because that is the fact,” Crow continued. “And if he wants to de-escalate that, he will stop these conspiracy theories, he will attempt to try to de-radicalize his supporters, and he will say that out right. I’m not holding my breath.”