Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren claimed Sunday that former President Donald Trump directed the mob to “go to the Capitol and invade” on Jan. 6.
Warren told host Abby Phillip on CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday” that Trump encouraged his supporters to “to take up arms against the United States government and its lawful actions.” (RELATED: ‘Single Biggest Stimulus We Could Add’: Warren Ups Pressure On Biden To Cancel Student Debt)
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Phillip began the segment with a question about the second impeachment trial of now-former President Trump, asking whether a delay before the start of that trial would give Republican tempers time to cool.
“Is there a risk that Republican opposition to Trump will fade the longer you wait?” Phillip asked.
“I can’t imagine how Republican opposition to insurrection would fade over the space of a couple of weeks. We’re talking about a president who stood in front of a mob and told them to go to the Capitol and invade, told them to go to the Capitol and stop the lawful business of government so that he could try to stay in the White House,” Warren claimed.
Warren went on to criticize Trump for breaking a number of norms throughout his tenure as president.
“But this one, insurrection, this is the first time since the Civil War that we have seen someone, a politician, encourage people to take up arms against the United States government and its lawful actions,” Warren continued. “We need accountability, accountability for Donald Trump and accountability for everyone who participated in that insurrection.”
Many have accused President Trump of inciting the riot on Jan. 6 — and at the very least, spurring on those who believed the election had been stolen or rigged — but his actual words on the day of the Capitol riot did not call for anyone to take up arms or for an invasion of the Capitol.
“You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated,” Trump said, winding down a long speech that focused heavily on his claims that the election had been rigged against him.
Calling for Vice President Mike Pence to stand against the vote, he encouraged the crowd — which at the time was raucous but not violent — to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue and tell their senators what they wanted.
“I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” Trump said.
