President Trump said on Tuesday that an effort to accuse him of allegedly inciting the Capitol rebellion is causing “tremendous anger” and that he is not to blame for the violence.
The impeachment is a “continuation of the biggest witch hunt in the history of politics,” Trump told reporters on the southern lawn of the White House as he set out on a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I think it is causing tremendous anger,” Trump said in one of his first public comments about the incident and its aftermath.
Trump spoke to reporters again at the Andrews Joint Base track in Maryland and said he did not incite the riot. “They analyzed my speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence. And everyone thought it was totally appropriate, ”said Trump.
Four Trump supporters and a police officer died during the invasion and siege of the Capitol, which followed a speech near the White House in which Trump asked thousands of supporters to persuade lawmakers to overthrow President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. The unrest was stopped, but it did not prevent Biden’s victory from being certified.
Trump also attacked major technology companies that censored him after the riot and purged many accounts of alleged conspiracy theorists. Trump was banned permanently by Twitter and banned from using Facebook or Instagram until at least after Biden took office.
“I think Big Tech made a terrible and very, very bad mistake for our country. And that is driving others to do the same thing. And that causes a lot of problems and a lot of danger. Big mistake. They shouldn’t be doing this, ”said Trump on Tuesday before boarding Air Force One.
He added: “But there is always an opposite movement when they do this. I’ve never seen as much anger as I do now and that’s a terrible, terrible thing. And you always have to avoid violence and we have great support. We have support, probably like no one has ever seen it before. You always have to avoid violence. “
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) plans to start the impeachment process and a potential vote on Wednesday. The Senate will not hold Trump’s trial until he leaves office on January 20, but if he is convicted by a Democratic-led body, he may be prevented from taking office again.