Trump Incited Rally Protesters To March On U.S. Capitol: ‘We Are Going To Have To Fight Much Harder’

Hours before rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday in the name of President Donald Trump, he addressed a crowd in front of the White House.

Trump had realized that Vice President Mike Pence was unlikely to object to the certification of the Electoral College in congressional session Wednesday afternoon, so he called on those who were still loyal to his false claims of widespread election fraud to march on the Capitol. Trump and his supporters hoped the march would put pressure on Congress to overturn the election.

Trump’s 70-minute speech in front of bright banners reading “SAVE AMERICA” held the same mixed message as his video address after the riots. Trump said “we are going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we are probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them — because you will never take back our country with weakness.”

Trump then commanded the crowd to march on the Capitol.

While Trump also claimed that he would be “marching with them,” the president watched the events at the Capitol unfold in real time from his television in the White House. Privately, the president continued to mock Pence, and the outgoing Sens. David Perdue (R-Georgia) and Kelly Loeffler (R-Georgia) claiming they had not done enough for him.