President Donald Trump condemns Capitol riot and concedes election to Joe Biden
8 January 2021, 02:44
Mr Trump also said his focus now was to ensure a “smooth orderly and seamless transition of power”.
President Donald Trump has condemned supporters who rioted at the US Capitol and conceded to President-elect Joe Biden in a new video message.
But a short time later, Mr Trump’s education secretary Betsy DeVos became the latest high-ranking official to quit her post over the attack.
Mr Trump spoke out against the violence seen in Washington DC on Wednesday, calling it a “heinous attack” that left him “outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem”.
He also said now that Congress has certified the results, the “new administration will be inaugurated on January 20” and his “focus now turns to ensuring a smooth orderly and seamless transition of power”.
Ms DeVos resigned after saying the president’s rhetoric was the “inflection point” for the attack on the Capitol, with transportation secretary Elaine Chao and the US special envoy to Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney earlier stepping aside from their positions.
Mr Trump did not address his role in inciting the violence in his video. But he did tell his supporters that, while he knows they are “disappointed”, he wanted them to know “our incredible journey is only just beginning”.
It came hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Mr Trump should immediately be removed from office or Congress may proceed to impeach him.
Ms Pelosi joined those calling on the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to force Mr Trump from office.
Members of Congress were forced into hiding, offices were ransacked, and the formal congressional count of Electoral College votes was halted for more than six hours during the attack
President-elect Mr Biden called the mob “domestic terrorists” and laid the blame for the violence squarely at Mr Trump’s feet..
