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US President-elect Joe Biden has said the attack on the US Capitol building was one of the darkest days in the country’s history and an attack on democracy instigated by President Donald Trump.
Biden described the Trump supporters who broke into the building in Washington yesterday as “domestic terrorists.”
His comments come as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for the immediate impeachment of President Trump through the 25th Amendment.
“Yesterday, the president of the United States incited an armed insurrection against the United States,” Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill, adding that he had committed a “seditious act.”
She described President Trump as “deadly to Americans and American democracy” and said those involved in the assault on the building were “terrorists.”
‘Don’t you dare call them protesters’: President-elect Joe Biden said yesterday that it was one of the darkest days in American history, calling it an unprecedented assault on democracy. | https://t.co/QRZVFxF7ja pic.twitter.com/C05CWrHkT0
– RTÉ News (@rtenews) January 7, 2021
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A spokeswoman for Trump said the president condemns “in the strongest terms” the violence on the US Capitol.
“Let me be clear: the violence we saw yesterday on our nation’s Capitol was gruesome, reprehensible and antithetical to the American way,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters.
“We condemn him – the president and this administration – in the strongest possible terms.”
Speaking in his hometown of Wilmington in Delaware, Biden accused Trump of unleashing a “total assault” on democratic institutions, adding that US presidents were not above the law.
He said the response to the attack on the Capitol building, which houses the Senate and House of Representatives, was a clear failure to apply the same justice compared to the response to the Black Lives Matter protests.
The police have made dozens of arrests in connection with yesterday’s action.
The Speaker of the United States House @SpeakerPelosi requests the elimination of @realDonaldTrump invoking the 25th Amendment, or the Democrats can carry out another impeachment effort. @rtenews pic.twitter.com/vgLnyNK0Wv
– Brian O’Donovan (@BrianOD_News) January 7, 2021
US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has said she will resign, citing the intrusion of the Capitol by supporters of President Trump.
Ms. Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is the first cabinet secretary to announce her departure after the fact.
Many lower-level administration officials announced they would resign, including the United States’ special envoy to Northern Ireland, Mick Mulvaney, and several White House aides.
Chao said his resignation would take effect Monday, just nine days before Trump leaves office.
She said the attack on the Capitol had “deeply troubled me in a way that I just can’t put aside.”
Read more:
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World leaders condemn ‘assault on American democracy’
The hat is not me! Jay Kay reacts to the image of the Capitol rioters
Ms. Chao has led the department for four years and said that “we will help my announced successor, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, take on the responsibility of running this wonderful department.”
Last week, Ms. Chao said she planned to remain in the position when Mr. Biden took office.
A government official said there could be more resignations from the cabinet before Monday.
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