Trump 'provoked' and 'fed lies' in Capitol riots: Republican Senate leader McConnell
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'They were provoked by the president and other powerful people,' the Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admitted
More than a week after Donald Trump's supporters took to the US Capitol and destroyed the federal property, the Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed that the riots had been "provoked" by the outgoing President.
Calling it a provocation, he said "the mob was fed lies," by the twice-impeached President Trump.
"They were provoked by the president and other powerful people," he said.
He also openly admitted that the Trump supporters "tried to use fear and violence to stop" to stop the official certification of Joe Biden that was being taken care of that day in the Capitol by the Speaker Nancy Pelosi and outgoing Vice President Mike Pence.
"But we pressed on. We stood together and said an angry mob would not get veto power over the rule of law in our nation, not even for one night," he said.
McConnell's statement has come a day before the President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to take an oath in the upcoming inauguration ceremony on January 20.
As of now, while the Democrats have openly criticised and blamed Trump for promoting and encouraging the Capitol riots, the Republicans have not openly criticised the US leader.
Meanwhile, days after the riot, Trump had declared a state of emergency and issued an order of deploying thousands of National Guard in Washington as the FBI had warned another such riot.
Trump supporters have been since the Capitol riots parading the streets in hope of being able to organise another such riot. However, they have been unsuccessful till now.
The security in the city has been beefed up for Biden's inauguration, which Trump has denied to take part in — breaking an old tradition. Instead, Trump will be hosting a sendoff event for himself in the early hours of Wednesday morning at a military airfield in Maryland, US.