Attack on Capitol to Stay in Office After Losing
[Return to Not Going Back]
In a democracy, if you lose an election, you leave office. Otherwise, we become a dictatorship. Donald Trump rejected a fundamental principle that has ruled the USA since 1776. He doesn’t believe in our democratic republic, and if you vote for him, you are saying that you don’t either.
Trump made bogus claims that the Biden election victory was due to fraud [learn more].
- He gave no evidence of the fraud.
- Claims rejected by his own Attorney General, judges he appointed, & political allies.
- His claims were ridiculous and contradicted by the facts.
- Supporters paid hundreds of millions in fines for spreading these false claims.
Trump pushed a phony legal theory to stop Biden from taking office.
- Congress met on January 6, 2021 to certify the presidential election of Joe Biden.
- Trump falsely claimed that Vice President Pence had the authority to stop the certification.
- He wanted to get state legislatures to change the electoral votes of states that he had lost.
- There is a name for using illegitimate means to change the government: a coup.
Trump recruited extremists to come to January 6 rally and incited them to violence.
- When challenged to reject the Proud Boys on TV, he embraced them instead.
- He advertised the rally to violent extremists.
- Supporters had already attacked the Michigan state house & fought in the streets.
- He knew that supporters at his rally were armed.
- He told the crowd to fight or they “wouldn’t have a country anymore”.
- He made almost no provision to prevent the violence.
While his supporters fought with police, Trump refused to stop attack [learn more].
- He watched it on TV and saw what you saw: Trump supporters fighting with police.
- He refused pleas from his advisors to tell the rioters to leave the Capitol.
- He called Congress members to urge them to agree to the attackers’ demands.
- He told rioters to leave after it was clear they had failed; when asked to leave, they did.
Trump showed support for the rioters which continues to this day.
- When he told them to leave the Capitol, he said, “We love you. You’re very special.”
- While under threat of impeachment, he denounced the rioters
- Now he calls people jailed for attacking the Capitol “hostages”.