Slamming President Donald Trump for inciting violence at the US Capitol, all four living former US Presidents — Barack Obama, George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter — have condemned the actions of pro-Trump rioters and underlined the need for a peaceful transfer of power.
The statement of Obama and three former presidents came hours after thousands of pro-Trump rioters on Wednesday stormed the US Capitol, interrupting a joint session of Congress where lawmakers were set to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
“History will rightly remember today’s violence at the Capitol, incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of great dishonour and shame for our nation. But we’d be kidding ourselves if we treated it as a total surprise,” Obama said in a lengthy statement.
For two months now, a political party and its accompanying media ecosystem has too often been unwilling to tell their followers the truth — that this was not a particularly close election and that President-elect Biden will be inaugurated on January 20, he said.
“Their fantasy narrative has spiralled further and further from reality, and it builds upon years of sown resentments. Now we’re seeing the consequences, whipped up into a violent crescendo,” Obama said.