Donald Trump has ‘unequivocally condemned’ the violent Capitol riots in a video released after he became the first president in history to be impeached twice.
The president didn’t reference his impeachment in his first comments after the vote, instead telling America: ‘Mob violence goes against everything I believe in’.
He claimed to be ‘shocked and deeply saddened by the ‘calamity’ at the Capitol last week’ – despite being accused of personally inciting the violence by telling his supporters they had to ‘show strength’ in ‘taking back our country’.
In his new video, the US leader said: ‘No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence. No true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law enforcement or our great American flag.
‘No true supporter of mine could ever threaten or harass their fellow Americans. If you do any of these things, you are not supporting our movement. You’re attacking it, and you are attacking our country. We can not tolerate it.’
Addressing the ‘acts of ‘intimidation and destruction’ over the past year, he added: ‘It must stop. Whether you are on the right or on the left, a Democrat or Republican, there is never a justification for violence.
‘No excuses. No exceptions. America is a nation of laws. Those who engaged in the attacks last week will be brought to justice.’
The president ended his speech by claiming there had been an ‘unprecedented assault on free speech in recent days’ likely referring to his ban on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Stating ‘the efforts to censor, cancel and blacklist our fellow citizens are wrong’, he added ‘what is needed now is for us to listen to one another, not to silence one another’.
The tone of his speech was a far cry from his initial reaction as five people died during the Capitol riots.
He tweeted Wednesday: ‘These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long.’
The House of Representatives moved to impeach Trump on Wednesday after passing the 218 voting majority needed to do so.
Ten Representatives from Trump’s own Republican party voted to impeach him, with a total of 232 opting for impeachment, and 197 voting against.
He now faces a trial in the upper house of the US Congress, the US Senate. Proceedings will not begin until at least one hour after Joe Biden is inaugurated next Wednesday.
A conviction would remove a sitting president from office, but Trump would be banned from running for president again if found guilty.
He would also lose perks afforded to ex-presidents such as travel allowance and Secret Service protection.
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