Mitch McConnell says Capitol rioters ‘were provoked by the president’Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday said the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters were “provoked” by President Trump “and other powerful people” to try to stop certification of his election defeat.
In a Senate floor speech, McConnell (R-Ky.) said, “The last time the Senate convened, we had just reclaimed the Capitol from violent criminals … the mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding … but we pressed on.”
McConnell’s wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, was the first member of Trump’s cabinet to resign over the riot, which followed a speech by Trump near the White House in which he urged thousands of supporters to “fight like hell” to persuade lawmakers to overturn Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
McConnell, who will be the most powerful Republican in Washington when Trump departs office Wednesday at noon, has said he’s undecided on whether to convict Trump in a looming impeachment trial over the riot.
President Trump speaks at a “Save America March” rally in Washington, DC, before rioters took over the Capitol.Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
McConnell will relinquish his majority leader position to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Wednesday, but will retain the power to block legislation and impede Biden’s nominees due to Senate rules.
Trump was impeached by the House last week for allegedly inciting an insurrection. If he’s convicted in the Senate, he could be banned from holding federal office again. At least 17 Republican votes are needed to convict — a steep climb. In the House, 10 Republicans broke ranks and voted to impeach Trump.
Please take a moment to consider this. Now, more than ever, people are reading Geller Report for news they won't get anywhere else. But advertising revenues have all but disappeared. Google Adsense is the online advertising monopoly and they have banned us. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter have blocked and shadow-banned our accounts. But we won't put up a paywall. Because never has the free world needed independent journalism more.
Everyone who reads our reporting knows the Geller Report covers the news the media won't. We cannot do our ground-breaking report without your support. We must continue to report on the global jihad and the left's war on freedom. Our readers’ contributions make that possible.
Geller Report's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our work is critical in the fight for freedom and because it is your fight, too.
It is the conflict of our age, yet no one dares talk about it. The true story of the Islamic Supremacist war on free speech as told by those on the front lines fighting for our First Amendment rights,
.
Pamela Geller tells her own story of how she became one of the world's foremost activists for the freedom of speech,
individual rights, and equality of rights for all. "It's my story, it's what happens when someone fights for freedom in America today,"
Geller explained.
Today Islamic supremacists are demanding more accommodation of Islamic principles
and practices than ever, and daily growing more aggressive in eroding our freedoms – with politically
correct public officials only too happy..
Popular conservative blogger Pamela Geller and New York Times bestselling author
Robert Spencer sound a wake-up call for Americans to stop the Obama administration from limiting our
hard-won...
The Ground Zero Mosque: The Second Wave of the 9/11 Attacks is a groundbreaking documentary on the controversy
over the planned Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero.
