Trump incited the mob, PM says

`Words have consequences,' Trudeau adds

OTTAWA • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lay the blame for Wednesday’s riots in Washington, D.C., on Donald Trump, saying specifically the outgoing U.S. president had incited the riot.

“What we witnessed was an assault on democracy by violent rioters, incited by the current president, and other politicians,” Trudeau said.

Hundreds of people overwhelmed police officers at the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday while Congress certified the results of the U.S. election. The pro-Trump mob forced legislators to flee and delayed the certification of president-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

One rioter was shot and killed in the melee, three people died from medical episodes and one Capitol Hill police officer injured in the assault died in hospital Thursday.

Trudeau has often avoided directly criticizing Trump due to Canada’s crucial trading relationship with the U.S., but he said Friday he needed to draw attention to it.

“Recognizing that words have consequences, that choices made by people in power can have a direct impact, not just on behaviours but on our very institutions, is an important thing,” he said.

“What we choose to say, what we choose not to say, how we say it, has consequences.”

Trump has 12 days left in office as president and remains a significant force in American politics. There are many congressmen and senators in the U.S. who supported his claims that the election had not been fairly conducted.

Trudeau said he is proud of Canadian democracy for functioning even through difficult challenges like the pandemic, but he said it is important to keep working on it.

“What a real accomplishment, it is to maintain a political system in which the losing side gracefully concedes, and in which rival political parties, between elections, work together for the common good,” Trudeau said.

“Canadian democracy didn’t happen by accident and it won’t continue without work.”