Former presidents condemn Trump as enabler of violence [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Former President Barack Obama slammed President Donald Trump for “inciting” the violence that happened at the US Capitol on Wednesday.
• Earlier on Wednesday, Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol to contest the election results.
• Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also condemned the incident.

In his response to the riot at the Capitol on Wednesday, former President Barack Obama did not hold back as he lambasted President Donald Trump and blamed the outgoing president for enabling the violence.

Obama said that Trump incited the chaos as he continuously makes false lies about the election results where he evidently lost, according to his statement posted on his Twitter account.

“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 dishonor and shame for our nation,” the former president wrote.

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump addressed his supporters as he told them that he would continue to fight for what he baselessly claimed as a ‘fraudulent election.’ He also urged his followers to march on Capitol Hill as Congress joint sessions commence to officially tally the Electoral College votes and certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win.

Later on, hundreds of pro-Trump supporters flocked at the Capitol as they scrambled with the police and broke into the building. The session was halted as legislators were forced to evacuate and save themselves from the chaos.

The former president noted that the insurgency was appalling, but did not arrive as an ultimate surprise as Republicans pushed for their “fantasy narrative” of the presidential election.

“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,” Obama said, adding that Trump and his allies’ “fantasy narrative has spiraled 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.”

Aside from Obama, former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also expressed their condemnation of the Capitol riot.

“I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election and by the lack of respect shown today for our institutions, our traditions, and our law enforcement. The violent assault on the Capitol — and disruption of a Constitutionally-mandated meeting of Congress — was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes,” Bush said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Clinton stated: “The assault was fueled by more than four years of poison politics spreading deliberate misinformation, sowing distrust in our system, and pitting Americans against one another. The match was lit by Donald Trump and his most ardent enablers, including many in Congress, to overturn the results of an election he lost.”

Source: AOL.com