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Trump concedes: “a new administration will be inaugurated” and condemns his violent supporters

Friday, January 8th 2021 - 09:55 UTC
Full article 5 comments
Trump declined to mention Biden by name or explicitly admit he'd lost the election, instead saying now that Congress has certified the election results Trump declined to mention Biden by name or explicitly admit he'd lost the election, instead saying now that Congress has certified the election results

United States President Donald Trump has finally conceded the 2020 election victory to president-elect Joe Biden in a new video published on his YoutTube channel condemning his violent supporters who stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday.

In the statement posted in Twitter via his media director, Trump declined to mention Biden by name or explicitly admit he'd lost the election, instead saying now that Congress has certified the election 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.”

He called the riot in the Capitol a “heinous attack” that left him “outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem.” However, in a video to the pro-Trump rioters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, he told them to go home, but also that he loved them, that they were special people and that he felt their pain. Twitter removed that video.

In the new statement, Trump did not address what Democrats and even some Republicans say was his role in inciting the violence. He did say he “immediately deployed the National Guard,” although it took a long time for order to be restored on Capitol Hill and CNN has reported that it was Vice-President Mike Pence who co-ordinated bringing in the troops.

In the short message, Trump told his supporters that while he knows they are “disappointed,” their “incredible journey is only just beginning.”

The address came at the end of a day where the president stayed out of sight in the White House. Silenced on some of his favorite social media lines of communication, he didn't comment as several of his top aides, including a cabinet secretary, announced their resignations.

The statement was also a stark reversal for Trump, who has spent months insisting widespread voter fraud cost him the Nov. 3 presidential election despite providing no evidence.

During a rally in Washington on Wednesday, he encouraged his thousands of supporters to march to the Capitol to protest the certification of the electoral college vote.

“We will stop the steal,” he told the crowd, using the rallying cry of protests against the election results.

A large mob of rioters later overran police officers and invaded the Capitol building, forcing members of Congress into hiding for their own safety. As recently as Thursday morning, Trump was still maintaining the election was stolen from him.

Before Trump released his video message on Thursday, the top Democrats in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, called on Vice-President Mike Pence and Trump's cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, a provision of the U.S. Constitution that allows a cabinet majority to remove the president from power if he is unable to discharge the duties of the office.

But a Pence adviser says the vice-president, who would have to lead any such effort, is opposed to using the amendment to oust Trump from the White House.

Barring that, Pelosi has said she would likely reconvene the House to initiate impeachment proceedings against Trump for his role in Wednesday's violence, which claimed five lives, including a police officer that died on Friday morning due to the injuries he suffered during the mob, Washington police informed in a press conference.

Categories: Politics, United States.

Top Comments

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  • Skip

    Thankfully Trump is the most incompetent person to ever hold the presidency and is way to stupid (he literally defines the idea of low IQ), lazy and blundering to actually be effective at undermining democracy.

    It is going to be a joy to watch his slide into irrelevance and watch how history will harshly judge him.

    Thank god I live in a constitutional monarchy!

    Jan 08th, 2021 - 10:29 am 0
  • imoyaro

    With any luck he'll be forced to flee the country to avoid prosecution. Moscow awaits...

    Jan 08th, 2021 - 09:40 pm 0
  • Skip

    Hahahahahaha Trump has been permanently banned from Twitter.

    God my day just gets better. How will he chuck his tanties now?

    Jan 09th, 2021 - 01:54 am 0
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