One week after his supporters laid siege to the US Capitol, Donald Trump released a video statement condemning the riots and called for peace.
“I want to make it very clear: I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week,” Trump said in the video. Without social media, the video was posted to the White House’s YouTube channel.
He went on to say that no “true” supporter of his would endorse political violence, disrespect the flag, or disrespect law enforcement, all of which was on full display at the riots last week.
“If you do any of these things, you are not supporting our movement— you are attacking it. And you are attacking our country. We cannot tolerate it,” Trump said.
The video stands in stark contrast to the video he released last week while his supporters raged at the Capitol. “We love you,” he told them. He referred to them as “very special.” “Go home,” he implored limply.
Following the video, Trump was suspended across social media platforms and eventually removed. He has been banned from Twitter, Facebook, and many other platforms. Trump addressed Big Tech in tonight’s video.
“The efforts to censor, cancel and blacklist our fellow citizens are wrong and they are dangerous,” he said. “What is needed now is for us to listen to one another, not to silence one another.”
Additionally, Trump made no mention of his second impeachment in the more than five-minute video due to last week’s insurrection. He is the first president in US history to be impeached twice.
