President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that the effort by Democrats to impeach him again would only escalate political tensions in the country after a group of his supporters stormed Capitol Hill last week.
“This impeachment is causing tremendous anger, and you’re doing it and it’s really a terrible thing that they are doing,” Trump said.
The president spoke to reporters about the push by Democrats to impeach him again as he left the White House for a trip to the southern border to review the wall structures completed during his administration.
“It’s really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics. It’s ridiculous,” Trump said.
The president stressed he did not want any violence from his supporters as Democrats and even some Republicans signaled support for impeachment after the riots on Capitol Hill.
“We want no violence, never violence; we want absolutely no violence,” he said.
Speaking to the press again at Joint Base Andrews before boarding Air Force One, Trump defended his rally speech to supporters prior to the riot.
Trump also challenged assertions that his rally speech in front of the White House last week inspired the mob violence that took place on Capitol Hill afterward.
“People thought that what I said was totally appropriate,” he said.
He reminded reporters of Democrat political leaders who failed to condemn the violence during the Black Lives Matter riots during the Summer.
“If you look at what other people have said, politicians at a high level, about the riots during the Summer, the horrible riots in Portland and Seattle and various other places, that was a real problem, what they said,” Trump asserted.
He also noted the final paragraph of his rally speech where he urged his supporters to “peacefully” protest on Capitol Hill, although it quickly turned violent.
“Everybody to the teeth thought it was totally appropriate,” he said, referring to his speech.