WaPo: Trump Was Too Transfixed Watching Riots To Act

The Washington Post reports:

As senators and House members trapped inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday begged for immediate help during the siege, they struggled to get through to the president, who — safely ensconced in the West Wing — was too busy watching fiery TV images of the crisis unfolding around them to act or even bother to hear their pleas.

“He was hard to reach, and you know why? Because it was live TV,” said one close Trump adviser. “If it’s TiVo, he just hits pause and takes the calls. If it’s live TV, he watches it, and he was just watching it all unfold.”

Even as he did so, Trump did not move to act. And the message from those around him — that he needed to call off the angry mob he had egged on just hours earlier, or lives could be lost — was one to which he was not initially receptive.

Read the full article.

As senators and House members trapped inside the U.S. Capitol begged for help during the siege, Trump — safely ensconced in the West Wing — was too busy watching fiery TV images of the crisis to act or even bother to hear their cries for help. https://t.co/6T1qf23EYZ

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 12, 2021