House managers say Trump’s response to the two events was ‘strikingly similar’ as he refused to condemn extremists and encouraged conspiracies
The allegation of “incitement” is key to the impeachment case House Democrats are making against former President Trump because it ties his words and actions to the Jan. 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill.
House impeachment managers have devoted most of their presentation this week to the results, airing graphic video footage and audio from the attack on the Capitol — which put members of the Senate, who will vote on the charges, personally at risk.
Their argument is that Trump was responsible for what happened, even though he did not join the mob that marched from his Jan. 6 rally near the White House to the US Capitol, where electoral votes were being tallied to seal Joe Biden’s victory.
The article of impeachment passed by the House in January reads, in part: “Donald John Trump engaged in high Crimes and Misdemeanors by inciting violence against the Government of the United States.” Read the whole thing here.
Here are a few key things the Democrats have said so far:
- “He had incited the attack. The insurgents were following his commands,” said Texas Democratic Rep. Julian Castro.
- “He directed all of the rage that he had incited to Jan. 6. That was his last chance to stop the peaceful transition of power,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell of California. He later added, “This was not just any old protest. President Trump was inciting something historic.”
- “This was deliberate,” said Virgin Islands Del. Stephanie Plaskett. “And because the President of the United States incited this, because he was orchestrating this, because he was inviting them, the insurgents were not shy about their planning.”
Trump’s defenders, namely Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, have argued that Trump can’t be held accountable because the people who made up the mob are “entitled to be idiots” and Trump was just whipping up the crowd, which is what politicians do.
“The President’s language at times is a little overheated,” Cruz told Sean Hannity on Fox News. “But if you look at the language he used, saying things like ‘fight,’ saying things like ‘go retake our country,’ if that is now incitement then we better prepare a long line to indict every candidate for office, anyone who’s ever run.”
We should note here that Cruz, in the days before the Jan. 6 riot, was himself egging on election-skeptics to fight against the counting of electoral votes and promising them “we will win.” Cruz also pointed out Trump told the festering mob to be peaceful, which he did, once — as opposed to the 20 times he told the crowd to “fight,” according to the impeachment managers.
You can read Trump’s whole Jan. 6 speech here.
