Trump said the “Save America March” would be peaceful, but his apocalyptic rhetoric had predictable consequences.
“I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful,” President Donald Trump tweeted after some of the supporters he had urged to gather in Washington, D.C., for a “Save America March” aimed at preventing President-elect Joe Biden from taking office stormed the Capitol, where lawmakers had gathered to officially tally the election results. “No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order—respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!” Before today’s riot, Trump also asked his followers to protest peacefully, and the responsibility for the violence lies first and foremost with the individuals who committed it. Yet it was predictable that at least some Trump supporters would go beyond peaceful protest after he spent two months insisting that he actually won the election by a landslide, a fact that he said would be apparent but for a massive criminal conspiracy that delivered a phony victory to Biden. Today is the day when Congress was scheduled to affirm that victory, which Trump has persistently portrayed as an intolerable threat to democracy. “These people are not going to take it any longer,” Trump declared at a Washington, D.C., rally that began an hour before the joint session of Congress convened. “They rigged an election. They rigged it like they’ve never rigged an election before… Hundreds of thousands of American patriots are committed to the honesty of our elections and the integrity of our glorious republic. All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats, which is what they’re doing, and stolen by the fake news media. That’s what they’ve done and what they’re doing. We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn’t happen.
