While his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and some of them tried to kill the then Vice President, Donald Trump is said to have fueled the mood. Former employees report how they tried in vain to persuade the president to tweet moderation.
Former US President Donald Trump poured "oil on the fire" during the Capitol attack, according to former employees. "It was obvious that the situation in the Capitol was violent and escalating quickly," said then-Vice Speaker of the White House Sarah Matthews at a public hearing of the committee of inquiry into the attack on the US House of Representatives on Thursday evening (local time).
Matthews spoke about a tweet that Trump had made during the dramatic events a year and a half ago - in which he again attacked his then Vice President Mike Pence. "He should have told those people to go home," Matthews said. The tweet was the last thing it needed at that moment.
The tweet was the opposite of de-escalation, emphasized then Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger at the hearing. "That was the moment I decided to resign. This was supposed to be my last day in the White House. I just didn't want to be associated with what was happening in the Capitol." Pottinger and Matthews both stressed that Trump had "poured fuel on the fire". On January 6, 2001, Trump supporters stormed the seat of parliament in Washington. Congress met there to formally confirm the election victory of Trump's democratic challenger Joe Biden. The violent crowd wanted to prevent that.
At that time, Pence chaired the congress session in his role as Vice President – legally a purely ceremonial task. Trump had previously openly called on his deputy to block the procedure - in order to help him win the election afterwards.
Security guards for the vice president told the investigative committee that they feared for their lives. Secret Service bodyguards radioed to say goodbye to their families, a defaced White House security official said. Previously, audio recordings of radio messages from the agents had been played in the background, who were looking for a safe escape route for Pence in the face of members of the violent mob entering the building - and finally found it. According to Pence, some intruders wanted to hang Trump for treason.
Meanwhile, Trump is said to have resisted calling on his supporters to behave peacefully. The White House had been discussing what kind of tweet Trump should make during the Capitol attack to stop the violence, said then-Vice Speaker Matthews. Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany whispered to her that Trump did not want the word "peace" to appear in any form in such a tweet. Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump was finally able to convince her father of the phrase "stay peaceful". The following tweet was dropped: "Please support our Capitol Police and law enforcement agencies. You are truly on the side of our country. Stay peaceful!"
