"Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!" Trump tweeted Wednesday after both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate went into a recess after Trump supporters breached security barricades and entered the Capitol.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021
According to Reuters, Trump issued the tweet urging protesters to remain calm after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) urged Trump to release such a statement.
In a separate video message, Trump called on protesters to respect law and order and go home. However, in his message, Trump still claimed that the election was fraudulent.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021
Trump has yet to concede to Biden, restating during a Wednesday rally outside the White House that he would never concede due to alleged voter fraud in the 2020 election.
"We will never give up, we will never concede. You don't concede when there's theft involved," Trump said.
"We have hundreds of thousands of people here and I just want them to be recognized by the fake news media – turn your cameras please and show what's really happening out here, because these people are not going to take it any longer," he added, referring to the pro-Trump protesters.
Later in the day, Trump issued a video message to his supporters who have encircled the Capitol building and asked them to disperse and go home.
"This was a fraudulent election. But we can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home," Trump said.
The video was, however, by Twitter, with the social media platform issuing a statement later that Trump's personal account will be permanently suspended if he continues to violate the platform's violent threats policies. It added that it has removed three of Trump's recent tweets posted earlier today because they violated the violent threats policies amid the violent situation on Capitol Hill. As a result, his account will be locked for 12 hours.
This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 7, 2021
Demonstrators have gathered to oppose the certification of the 2020 election results on Wednesday, when Congress is set to confirm Biden’s victory under the Electoral Count Act of 1887.
The Electoral College decisively confirmed in December that Biden is the next American president, giving him a majority of 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232.
The Electoral Count Act, a US federal law that sets procedures for the counting of electoral votes by Congress following a presidential election, is intended to minimize the legislature's involvement in electoral disputes.
