Many Americans blame former president Donald Trump for the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol but his supporters say he’s innocent of inciting the breach that left five dead.
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On Feb. 8, while at Fox News Sen. Tim Scott said Trump is not responsible for the deadly riots. in fact, Scott says the Democrats are to blame for inciting violence.
“The Democrats should put the blame where it stands, where it should be,” said the South Carolina senator who has openly supported Trump. “And it does not have to do with the president who said go ‘peacefully’ to protest.”
“The president is simply not guilty,” said Scott. “I was in the chamber when the rioters were coming over. I was taking my jacket off, my tie off, rolling my sleeves up, just in case I had to fight. The chances of me understanding and appreciating the severity of the situation is 100%. The one person I don’t blame is President Trump.”
He also told the publication Democrats use language that incites violence. He went to call out Rep. Maxine Waters, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
He claims Walters, “told folks to go aggressively toward folks and tell them they’re not wanted,” and said Sanders’s messages “were misinterpreted by his supporters and led to the shooting of Steve Scalise.”
Rep. Steve Scalise is one of four people who were shot by James Hodgkinson, a left-wing activist, at a congressional baseball game in 2017. Hodgkinson was shot by Capitol police at the scene and died at an area hospital. He had once been a campaign volunteer for Sanders.
Scott also added, “Think about the comments with AOC and so many others who seem to be inciting violence. That is covered as political speech. Not a big deal if you are a Democrat, but if you are a Republican, the standard seems to be different.”
Waters denied the claims against her.
“As a matter of fact, if you look at the words that I used, the strongest thing I said was, tell them they’re not welcome,” said Waters when MSNBC asked if she ever “glorified or encouraged” violence.
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On Saturday, theGrio reported that Trump was acquitted of inciting the Jan. 6 riot. This is the former president’s second acquittal in an impeachment trial.
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