Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) accused Donald Trump on Sunday of deliberately trying to “accelerate the violence” that was already raging at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 against his vice president, Mike Pence, in a reckless attempt to to hold. force.
Lofgren, a member of the House’s select committee investigating the uprising, pointed to the tweet the former president sent out in which he attacked Pence, even as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Former White House aides testified during last week’s House committee hearing that Trump was encouraged to send a message to help stop the violence. But he instead fired a tweet in the midst of riots, saying Pence “did not have the courage to do what needed to be done” – referring to Pence’s refusal to vote in elections that certified Joe Biden’s victory , to reject.
A video of the scene at the Capitol after Trump’s tweet shows how a riotous man then announces that Pence “betrayed us”, which makes the crowd angry. Fans soon sang, “Hang Mike Pence!”
“When he sent out the tweet in which he attacked his vice president, he already knew the violence was going on,” Lofgren said on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “The only conclusion you can reach is that he intended to accelerate that violence against the former vice president.”
The former president’s niece, Mary Trump, accused her uncle in an interview last week of essentially ‘imposing a death sentence on Pence’ and suggested that Pence’s assassination could have helped Trump claim justification for the proclamation. of martial law.
Similarly, Harry Litman, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, accused Trump on MSNBC on Saturday of causing “a murderous rage” among his supporters as part of a “line-up” against Pence.
Lofgren also accused Trump of inciting a chilling lawless, violent culture in America today. She pointed to “very conservative” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) who was yelled at and “ripped off” by extremist Republicans at the Texas Republican Party convention in Houston on Saturday.
“I think that’s what the former president has released here,” she added.
