Ninety minutes before rioters stormed Capitol Hill, US president Donald Trump addressed many of the same people using unequivocally inciteful language. “You’ll never take back our country with weakness,” Mr Trump said. “You have to show strength.” His personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, also called on the crowd to conduct “trial by combat”.
A mob made up of “Make America Great Again” protesters, Proud Boys and other far-right groups took them at their word. Desecration followed. Four years after Mr Trump warned of “American carnage” in his inaugural address, he got what he wanted. The scenes of insurrectionists, some of them armed, ransacking Congress will go down in infamy in American democracy.
Nobody should feign surprise. Mr Trump has been vowing to “take back control” since before he took office. During the build-up to last year’s presidential election, Mr Trump repeatedly predicted it would be the most corrupt in US history. Since losing, he has broadcast that falsehood ever more loudly.
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The nightmarish end to Donald Trump’s presidency | Financial Times
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