GOP Senator Urges Trump to ‘Directly and Unambiguously Speak Out’ Against Further Violence: If He Doesn’t, ‘He Will Bear Responsibility’

Senator Rob Portman (R- OH) is calling on President Donald Trump to publicly address his supporters and say they must remain peaceful.

The president has been widely condemned over the mob of his supporters that violently stormed the Capitol last week, with respect to both his incendiary, false election rhetoric and his lack of action to respond to the riot sooner.

Portman issued his statement after briefings with law enforcement about the violence, and he said there’s no question “President Trump bears some responsibility for what happened on January 6.”

He referenced the concerns about potential “additional violence in Washington, DC” and in state capitols around the country before making an appeal to the president again:

“I call on President Trump to address the nation and explicitly urge his supporters to remain peaceful and refrain from violence. If our nation experiences additional violence and destruction at the hands of his supporters in Washington DC and state capitols around the country, and he does not directly and unambiguously speak out now when threats are known, he will bear responsibility.”

Rob Portman: "Both in his words before the attack on the Capitol & in his actions afterward, President Trump bears some responsibility for what happened…I call on President Trump to address the nation & explicitly urge his supporters to remain peaceful & refrain from violence." pic.twitter.com/k98e5mNZ6S

— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) January 12, 2021

According to the Washington Post, the president sent out a tweet on Wednesday calling for his supporters to “stay peaceful” only after pressure from people around him, and apparently “the president had not wanted to include the final instruction to ‘stay peaceful.'”