Trump to protesters: 'We love you. You're very special … but go home' - TribLIVE

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President Donald Trump issued a recorded statement via Twitter about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday telling protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol to “go home.” And then he doubled down about two hours later.

“I know you’re pain. I know you’re hurt,” Trump said in his statement. “We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it, especially the other side. 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. 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 see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home in peace.”

Shortly after 6 p.m., Trump tweeted again.

“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away,” he said.

These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021

Hours later, Facebook and Twitter removed the video.

YouTube also said it has removed the Trump video for spreading false claims about widespread election fraud.

Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice president of integrity, said on Twitter that the video was removed because it “contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.”

“This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video,” Rosen said on Twitter.

Twitter initially left the video up but blocked people from being able to retweet it or comment on it. Only later in the day did the platform delete it entirely.

The video was issued more than two hours after protesters began storming the Capitol on Wednesday as lawmakers convened for an extraordinary joint session to confirm the Electoral College results and President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Republican Sen. Ben Sasse directly blamed Trump for the storming of the Capitol.

The Nebraska lawmaker and frequent critic of Trump said Wednesday evening that the Capitol “was ransacked while the leader of the free world cowered behind his keyboard — tweeting against his Vice President for fulfilling the duties of his oath to the Constitution.”

Sasse says in a written statement, “Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the President’s addiction to constantly stoking division.”

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The protesters broke into the building as Congress was beginning the formal process of certifying the electoral votes that gave Democratic President-elect Joe Biden a victory over Trump in November. Vice President Mike Pence has the ceremonial role of overseeing that certification and resisted Trump efforts to pressure him to overturn the election results.

Trump has continued to fallaciously claim that the voting was marred by fraud and that he actually won.

Earlier, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle called on Trump to condemn supporters who violently clashed with law enforcement on Capitol Hill.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers called on Trump to act to deescalate the violent protests.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he spoke with the president earlier Wednesday and told him to make a statement to “make sure that we can calm individuals down.”

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio tweeted that “it is crucial you help restore order by sending resources to assist the police and ask those doing this to stand down.”

Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey told The Associated Press that while he sympathizes with the protesters’ position, they shouldn’t get violent, and it would be “nice” if Trump called on them to “protest in a peaceful way in an appropriate spot, where you belong, where you should be.”

Many Republicans had backed Trump’s false claims of widespread voter spread to explain away his defeat to President-elect Joe Biden.

Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, of Wisconsin, posted a video message urging Trump to “call it off.”

“This is Banana Republic crap that we’re watching right now,” said Gallagher, who had spoken out against objections from fellow Republicans to certifying Biden’s Electoral College vote.

Pence and Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., tweeted that the violence must stop.

The violence and destruction taking place at the US Capitol Must Stop and it Must Stop Now. Anyone involved must respect Law Enforcement officers and immediately leave the building.

— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) January 6, 2021

Trump Jr. called the protests “wrong.”

This is wrong and not who we are. Be peaceful and use your 1st Amendment rights, but don’t start acting like the other side. We have a country to save and this doesn’t help anyone. https://t.co/3oUAPxuwi9

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 6, 2021

Trump earlier encouraged his supporters occupying the U.S. Capitol to “remain peaceful” but he did not call for them to disperse. He held a rally earlier Wednesday in which he repeated his false claims that Biden had won the election through voter fraud.

He urged his supporters to march to the Capitol, telling them to “get rid of the weak Congress people” and saying, “get the weak ones get out; this is the time for strength.”

Among those urging Trump to act: his former communications director, Alyssa Farah, who tweeted that Trump should “Condemn this now.”

She says, “you are the only one they will listen to. For our country!”

Condemn this now, @realDonaldTrump – you are the only one they will listen to. For our country!

— Alyssa Farah (@Alyssafarah) January 6, 2021

His former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney tweeted: “The President’s tweet is not enough. He can stop this now and needs to do exactly that. Tell these folks to go home.”

Peaceful protests are one thing. Illegally storming the Capitol is another thing entirely. The President needs to discourage any violence immediately.

— Mick Mulvaney (@MickMulvaney) January 6, 2021

Now is the time for the President to be presidential.

— Mick Mulvaney (@MickMulvaney) January 6, 2021

The President's tweet is not enough. He can stop this now and needs to do exactly that. Tell these folks to go home.

— Mick Mulvaney (@MickMulvaney) January 6, 2021

His lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, also addressed Trump supporters in a tweet, calling them the “patriots challenging the fraudulent election” and telling them that “POTUS wants you to EXPRESS YOUR OPINION PEACEFULLY.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted that “Those storming the Capitol need to stop NOW.”

Those storming the Capitol need to stop NOW.

The Constitution protects peaceful protest, but violence—from Left or Right— is ALWAYS wrong.

And those engaged in violence are hurting the cause they say they support.

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 6, 2021

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a joint statement, saying, “We are calling on President Trump to demand that all protestors leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol Grounds immediately.”

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