14th January, 2021
Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump is soft-pedaling on his incendiary rhetorics, appealing for non-violence by his supporters, said to be planning demonstrations up till Joe Biden’s inauguration next week.
His speech that came about an hour after he was impeached by the House of Representatives for incitement of insurrection, was loudly silent about the unprecedented second indictment, the first to be earned by an American president.
He however gave adequate hints that demonstrations by his mob of supporters were in the offing, except that he has appealed for non-violence and respect of the law enforcement officers.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 13, 2021
He acknowledged being briefed on new threats of violence as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take the oath of office.
“There must be no violence, no law breaking and no vandalism of any kind. Everyone must follow our laws and obey the instructions of law enforcement,” Trump said, in an appeal intended to calm his supporters.
For the second time, he ‘unequivocally’ condemned the attack on US Capitol last week.
He said he was “shocked and deeply saddened by the calamity at the Capitol last week.”
“I want to be very clear: I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week. Violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country and no place in our movement,” Trump said after a mob of his supporters stormed Congress in a riot which killed five people.
“Making America great again has always been about defending the rule of law, supporting the men and women of law enforcement and upholding our nations’ most sacred traditions and values,” he went on.
“Mob violence goes against everything I believe in and everything our movement stands for. No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence,” he said.
He also spoke about the curtailment of free speech, occasioned by his ban on Twitter and Facebook.