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In Video, Trump Sympathizes With Protesters, But Tells Them To ‘Go Home’

By: Brian Naylor | NPR
Posted on: Wednesday, January 6, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NPR) — After hours of silence, as a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, President Trump said in a tweeted video late Wednesday afternoon that his supporters should “go home,” but once again he repeated his fraudulent claim that the election was stolen.

Supporters of President Trump climb the west wall of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. [Jose Luis Magana | AP]

“I know your pain. I know your hurt,” Trump said in a short video from the Rose Garden of the White House posted to social media. “We had an election that was stolen from us,” he said, repeating debunked claims that election fraud had ruined his fictitious “landslide election.”

“But you have to go home now,” he said. “We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt.”

One person, however, earlier suffered a gunshot wound at the U.S. Capitol amid the violent occupation and was transported by Washington, D.C., Emergency Medical Services from the building.

“This was a fraudulent election,” Trump claimed baselessly again, “but we can’t play into the hands of these people. So go home. We love you. You’re very special.”

Twitter took the extraordinary step of not even allowing replies, retweets or likes on the video.

“This claim of election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can’t be replied to, Retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence,” a warning on the tweet said.

Earlier Wednesday, in a speech from the Ellipse outside the White House, Trump urged his backers to march to the Capitol, saying he would go with them, but instead he returned to the White House as the insurrection unfolded.