The former president did not take questions and walked away as a Washington Post reporter asked him to rule out violence for his supporters.
Trump’s comments came three days after the third anniversary of his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol, inspired by Trump’s false insistence that the 2020 election was stolen. Over the years, Trump has
increasingly defendedthe riot and embraced people charged in the attack. On Saturday he called them “
hostages” and demanded their release.
His repeated evasions of ruling out political violence come amid a
rising menace of threats and attacks throughout American politics. Biden on Friday condemned Trump for refusing to reject violence.
“Trump won’t do what an American president must do; he refuses to denounce political violence,” Biden said. “So hear me clearly, I will say what Donald Trump won’t: Political violence is never acceptable in the United States, never never never. It has no place in the democracy. None.”