"Donald Trump must be held responsible": the majority of the American press condemns the outgoing president
If the mainstream American media unanimously pointed out Trump's responsibility for the Capitol invasion on Wednesday, several ultra-conservative media have put the event into perspective.
The certification of Joe Biden's victory by elected officials of Congress, Wednesday, January 6, in Washington, was to be a simple formality. It turned to "insurgency," "almost sedition," in the words of President-elect Joe Biden, when a crowd of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, interrupting the proceedings. The images taken inside the building are striking: parliamentarians wearing gas masks, plainclothes police officers with weapons in hand, demonstrators in the offices of parliamentarians ...
"January 6, 2021 will be remembered as one of the darkest days in US history," said Dan Balz, the Washington Post's White House correspondent. This day will mark the "frightening and predictable culmination of two months of lies" from Donald Trump, who has repeatedly shouted "electoral fraud". "Democracy has suddenly given way to political anarchy", adds the journalist, who considers the outgoing president entirely responsible for this "scene of chaos": Donald Trump, who "used the powers of his office not to stifle anger and hostility but to ignite them ”, is“ the symptom and the cause ”of the invasion of the Capitol.
Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank accuses the outgoing president of "treason". "With nothing more to lose," the Republican "fomented a deadly insurgency [a woman died on the Capitol grounds and three other people died around the building] against the US Congress to prevent a duly elected president to take office, ”he wrote.
In its editorial, the New York Times also accuses Donald Trump of inciting violence, by his "seditious rhetoric." “This cannot be tolerated,” slices the daily. “He encouraged his supporters to walk on Capitol Hill. He told them the election had been stolen. He told them to fight. (...) The president must be held accountable - through impeachment proceedings or criminal prosecution, "the newspaper said. “The leaders of the Republican Party also bear some responsibility” for participating in the dissemination of numerous lies questioning the validity of the election.
"They trampled on the Constitution"
"An explosion was inevitable, after four years of provocations, conspiracies, lies and clashes between Americans," CNN said. “The President of the United States in office pushed thugs to attack the citadel of democracy in his country (…). The rest of the world watched with horror, ”continues the American channel. He asked, "If openly inciting an attempted coup d'etat doesn't deserve the impeachment of a president, then what does? "
The Los Angeles Times also considers this event to be anything but a surprise. After four years of "lying" and "breaking the law, is it any wonder that Donald Trump tried to incite his supporters into a coup?" Asks columnist Robin Abcarian. And to strongly condemn the "anarchy and terror" engendered "by a group which claims to belong to the party of" law and order "". The Americans who took part in this riot "didn't just spit on the Constitution, they trampled on it."
"What Donald Trump has unleashed [is] an unprecedented act of domestic terrorism," David Corn told the Mother Jones website. "It was purely and simply a rebellion, a real coup attempt," he wrote. Speaking of his electoral defeat as a "robbery," the outgoing president "has become the instigator of one of the most significant terrorist acts in modern American history."
By warming the spirits of his supporters, Donald Trump "used their patriotism as a lever to impose his will on the Republic and against its laws", analyzes John Kass, the Chicago Tribune columnist. “They then climbed the walls of the Capitol. It was really shameful, "he denounces. "Leave in peace? It is too late for that, Mr. President. Those who stormed the Capitol should be prosecuted and sent to jail. They can thank you for that, ”the journalist also writes. In its editorial, the Chicago Tribune hammers the point home in an address to the president: "Admit defeat or resign."
The conservative Fox News channel, once praised by Donald Trump and which has distanced itself from him, also takes a critical look at the billionaire's attitude through the voice of Jonathan Turley: this lawyer, also a contributor for the channel, believes that ' he was "incredibly reckless". For him, the presidency of the United States "has never fallen so low" and "it will take a long time to repair [the function]".
Act minimized in ultra-conservative media
In contrast, several Fox News presenters played down the facts and the Republican's responsibility. "This is all happening because the people in power decided to suppress the population so harshly that things ended up exploding," says Tucker Carlson, visibly attacking others besides the incumbent president, without naming them. At the gates of Congress, the demonstrators "pushed, rubbed, but for the most part, that's it," said Kevin Corke, reporter for Fox News.
Other ultra-conservative US media have put the gravity of the Capitol invasion into perspective. From the Newsmax site to the Real America's Voice channel, via One America News Network, many have denounced, without any evidence, the alleged infiltration of ultra-left groups into the riot movement.
"I think it was undercover antifas," said Real America's Voice presenter Gina Loudon, for example, of the rioters she encountered in the corridors of Congress. While denouncing the violence, Greg Kelly, of Newsmax, considered the events of Wednesday as logical: "If you steal an election, there will be a lot of angry people", he tried to justify.
"They are going to say that all the Trump supporters are violent," said Grant Stinchfield of Newsmax. "I just wish they had spoken out that so many cities have been damaged" during the spring anti-racism protests.
At no time in these latest media has the possible responsibility of Donald Trump been discussed. They preferred to highlight the outgoing president's Twitter appeals for calm - calls made after letting the situation escalate. For Eric Greitens of Real America's Voice, the enforced, even momentary, halt to debates in Congress "gives the president a few more days to demonstrate that there has been fraud."
