For months, then-President Donald Trump insisted to his voters, before and after he lost the 2020 presidential election, that the American system of democracy was not to be trusted.
He insisted to his voters that Democrats somehow orchestrated widespread fraud that "stole" the election from him, delivering a false victory to now-President Joe Biden, all the while Trump was pressuring state legislatures to change their election laws and calling state officials to "find" the votes necessary for him to win.
When the day came for a joint session of Congress to nationally acknowledge Biden's victory, Trump appeared at a nearby rally encouraging his supporters to walk over to the Capitol and make their voices heard.
That's when Trump's supporters stormed the United States Capitol, shattering windows, smearing excrement across the walls, and terrorizing Capitol police. At least five people lost their lives as a result.
Despite the death of one Capitol police officer and two Capitol police suicides in the days following, Trump claimed in a recent Fox News interview that the rioters were pro-police.
Watch below.
Trump told far-right Fox News host Laura Ingraham:
"Look, they went in and they shouldn't have done it. Some of them went in and they're hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know, they had great relationships."
This was not, in fact, true—as people soon pointed out.
https://t.co/XZyyzvbmV0 pic.twitter.com/GDYBODIZ9C
— Kevin Whelan (@K_Whelan17) March 26, 2021
There's video. A lot. Of video.
And also a lot of arrests & prosecutions.
Just none for the organizers. Yet.https://t.co/4eBfMfmUqM pic.twitter.com/NGYnQBNmJh
— Fascism flattened, but never the webrant🕺------🕺 (@web_rant) March 26, 2021
People warned against Trump's dangerous rhetoric and delusional characterizations of reality.
Trump was narrowly acquitted by the Senate in the impeachment trial the riots spurred. Seven Republicans voted to convict, making it the most bipartisan presidential impeachment trial in American history.
