A List of Everyone Complicit in This Coup Attempt
For months, Trump has lied about the 2020 election and enabled this violence
Thousands of far-right insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol at President Donald Trump’s instruction on Wednesday in an attempt to stop Congress from lawfully certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Assailants, many of whom were armed, rioted and occupied the House and Senate chambers. Make no mistake: This is a violent coup attempt — one that was enabled from the get-go by Trump, who has lied for months that the election was stolen from him.
This day marks a stain in American history. Here’s a list of everyone who enabled it to come to fruition.
President Donald Trump
The buck stops with the president, who before the election instructed the white supremacist group Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” He then lied for two months about the election results, even as all his legal challenges fell through and state officials across the country found no evidence of widespread voter fraud. At the white nationalist rally on Wednesday, Trump told the crowd, “We will never give up, we will never concede. They say we lost — we didn’t lose.” He then urged his supporters to march into the U.S. Capitol.
Sen. Josh Hawley
The Missouri senator was the first senator to object to the certification of the Electoral College votes, falsely claiming there were irregularities in the voting process. The move allowed for other senators to follow through with the charade. Hawley even greeted protesters before the violence began.
Sen. Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz, who likely aspires to run for president again in 2024, has become a loyal Trump supporter over the past several years. The Texas senator led the unsuccessful charge to create an election commission to investigate baseless claims of voter fraud and said that without the commission, he would not vote to…
