YouTube has taken action against President Donald Trump and has banned the uploading of new videos on his channel for at least seven days, citing violations of his policies and “concerns about the continuing potential for violence”.
It is the last action against Trump after last week’s deadly riot at U.S. Capitol Hill by a pro-Trump crowd. Twitter and Facebook also suspended or blocked the president’s accounts.
YouTube issued a “strike” to Trump’s channel, and said that comments would also be disabled indefinitely. The company also said it removed new content posted on Tuesday.
Trump was blamed by Democrats and some Republicans – including the third Republican in the House, Congresswoman Liz Cheney – for inciting violence on Capitol Hill.
“The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame for this attack. Everything that followed was his doing,” Cheney, in R-Wyoming, said in a statement on Tuesday.
“There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States in his office and his oath to the Constitution,” she said, adding that she supports his impeachment.
On Tuesday, Trump was not responsible for inciting the riot that killed five people, including a Capitol police officer who died after being wounded in physical confrontations and a woman who was shot dead by the police while a crowd tried to break into part of the building.
There were calls in Congress to remove Trump after the turmoil.
The Democratic-controlled House on Tuesday night passed a resolution calling for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, which Pence said he would not do. “According to our Constitution, the 25th Amendment is not a means of punishment or usurpation” and using it would set what he called a terrible precedent, the vice president said in a letter.
The House’s vote ranged from 223 to 205, largely on party lines. But there are also calls for Trump’s impeachment a second time, and an increasing number of Republicans have publicly endorsed the president’s impeachment.
In addition to speaking to the crowd at a pre-violence rally, Trump has repeatedly and baselessly claimed that the election was fraudulent or stolen, allegations for which there is no evidence. The crowd invaded and looted the Capitol while Congress formally counted the election votes for Joe Biden’s victory.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Said on the floor of the House before Tuesday night’s vote that “The facts are very clear: The President called for this seditious attack.”
