Sen. McConnell: ‘The mob was fed lies provoked by Trump’

Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday accused President Trump of provoking the violent crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

“The last time the Senate convened, we had just reclaimed the Capitol from violent criminals who tried to stop Congress from doing our duty. The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people,” McConnell said on the Senate floor, marking the first convening of the full Senate since the attack.

McConnell’s statements carry significance ahead of an anticipated Senate impeachment trial. The GOP leader has told colleagues he hasn’t yet decided how he would vote on a House-passed article of impeachment against Trump.

I agree with Sen. McConnell. That mob was fed lies and used them to attack our republic. However, I believe that many in that mob knew they were lies but acted anyway as a show of their true character. The “macho” crowd didn’t care about our democracy or about you or me. They were there to show the power they thought they had and had dreamed about for years.

McConnell accused the rioters who breached the building of trying “to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”

Speaking against objections to the electoral votes of Arizona and Pennsylvania, McConnell argued on the Senate floor Jan. 6 that the 2020 presidential election wasn’t even that close in the end.

Again, Sen. McConnell did the right thing. There wasn’t any evidence of any wrongdoing in the election.

The mob in our nation’s capitol and the people who keep repeating that the election was stolen have been doing a disservice to our country.

As if things were not bad enough with the coronavirus these people only made the situation worse. We are now living in one of the darkest periods of our nation’s history.

We can do something about the virus by practicing good safety habits and getting the vaccine when it is available and with good luck in a few months the virus will be conquered.

I’m not sure what we can do about people who are intent on destroying our way of life and our form of government which is the best in the world. It is a scary time we are living in today.

And about the vaccine, there has been a lot of confusion about it. I, for one, am not clear when the vaccine will be available for me and my wife.

I live with caution because I’m 81 years of age and I’m fighting lung cancer for the second time. It is like sitting on pins and needles waiting for a call to get the vaccine.

It was a year ago at this time when the first cases of the virus were reported in the United States. Remember the lack of concern that was shown by some at that time?

No, it was not a hoax and it did not go away with warm weather. By the end of next month we are possibly looking at over one-half million deaths from it.

We can only hope and pray that things will get better!