Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday blamed President Donald Trump for the actions of his supporters who breached the U.S. Capitol to protest the results of the presidential election.
In an interview on ABC News, Christie said that Trump should publicly call on his supporters to leave the Capitol.
“Anything short of that is an abrogation of his responsibility,” said Christie, a close confidant of the president’s.
“The president caused this protest to occur. He’s the only one who can make it stop.”
Christie asserted that Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr., were responsible for the actions of the mob, though he said that they did not necessarily anticipate that the Capitol building would be blitzed.
“He spoke to this crowd, his son spoke to this crowd, and sent them on their way,” said Christie.
“I don’t know that they anticipated that this was going to be the result, but it doesn’t matter whether they did or they didn’t; this is the result of their words. So now their words must put a stop to this.”
BREAKING: Chris Christie to @GStephanopoulos: “I’ve been spending the last 25 minutes or so trying to get the president on the phone myself to say this to him directly…The president caused this protest to occur. He’s the only one who can make it stop.” https://t.co/Irgxfms4B4 pic.twitter.com/bR2ybYWUaJ
— ABC News (@ABC) January 6, 2021
At least one person was reportedly shot inside the Capitol. Police shut down the building and ordered lawmakers and their staff members to either shelter in their offices or evacuate.
Video footage from inside the Capitol showed that a woman who appeared to be carrying a Trump flag had been shot in the neck, ABC News reported. Her status is unclear.
Trump and Trump Jr. spoke earlier on Wednesday at a rally held to encourage Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Republicans to refuse to certify votes from the Electoral College. Pence informed Congress that he did not have the constitutional authority to overturn states’ votes in the Electoral College.
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