Donald Trump Still Insists Election Was 'Stolen' as He Tells Capitol Mob to 'Go Home'
President Donald Trump has officially spoken out that his supporters have stormed the U.S. Capitol [...]
President Donald Trump has officially spoken out that his supporters have stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday. In a video that he posted on his official Twitter account, the president told his supporters, who have caused a chaotic and violent scene to unfold at the Capitol, to "go home." However, he still insisted that the election was "stolen" from him and that he is the rightful winner instead of former Vice President Joe Biden, who did win the election (there is no evidence to suggest that widespread voter fraud led to Trump's election loss, despite what he claims). Many of those in the mob at the Capitol seemed to echo the president's own words on Wednesday, as they stormed the building to protest what they believed to have been a "stolen" election."
"I know your pain; I know your hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it, especially the other side," Trump's statement began (it should again be noted that there is no evidence to suggest that the election was "stolen" in any form). While the rest of the president's statement included his calls for "peace," he went on to refer to the rioters as "special" and told them that he loves them.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021
He also said that this election was taken away from him and his supporters, as well. As previously mentioned, this kind of rhetoric has led to the chaotic situation unfolding in the Capitol in the first place, as many of those on the scene have claimed that Trump is the winner of the election, even though Biden won the majority of the popular vote and the electoral college.
"But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order," Trump continued. "We don't want anybody hurt. It's a very tough period of time. There's never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us — from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraudulent election. But, we can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So, go home. We love you; you're very special. You've seen what happens; you've seen how others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But, go home and go home in peace."
The president's comments come after a mob of individuals, made up of Trump supporters, stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, leading the building to go into lockdown. The chaotic scene unfolded as Congress was certifying the results of the election. Numerous journalists reported that there were "shots fired" on the grounds of the Capitol (HuffPost's Matt Fuller said that he could not confirm that there were shots fired, but he did see "the glass blow out of the chamber's front door"). It was also reported that a woman was shot inside of the Capitol, according to CNN's Kaitlan Collins. The journalist reported that the woman is in critical condition, but no other details were provided.