President Donald Trump on Wednesday sent his "love" to supporters who stormed the Capitol building, but also advised them to “go home, and go home in peace" — minutes after President-elect Joe Biden implored him to “demand an end to this siege.”
In a video posted to Twitter Wednesday afternoon, Trump called his supporters — hundreds of whom broke past barriers at the Capitol, halting election certification procedures — “very special.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021
“I know your pain. I know your hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us,” he said, doubling down on his false election fraud claims. “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,” he added. “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,” he went on to say. “You’re very special.”
Minutes earlier, Biden implored Trump to appear on television and “demand an end to this siege,” after calling protesters at the Capitol “extremists” leading an “insurrection.”
“What we’re seeing are a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent. It’s disorder. It’s chaos…. And it must end. Now,” Biden said at a press conference. “I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward.”
“You’ve heard me say before… the words of a president matter, no matter how good or bad that president is. At their best, the words of a president can inspire. At their worst, they can incite,” he said. “Therefore, I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the constitution, and demand an end to this siege.”
“It’s not a protest, it’s insurrection,” he added. “I’m genuinely shocked and saddened that our nation, so long a beacon of light and hope for Democracy, has come to such a dark moment.”
