Castro: Trump further incited the mob ‘against his own vice president’

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) accused Trump of directly inciting the rioters against former Vice President Mike Pence, noting that Trump accused Pence of lacking the “courage” to overturn the election results after the attack began.

Castro cited Trump’s tweet, in which he said Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution” after Pence declined to intervene while presiding over the counting of electoral votes.

“Over an hour and a half into the attack, and this is what he tweeted,” Castro said. “He still, even at this point, did not acknowledge the attack on the Capitol, let alone condemn it. Instead, he further incites the mob against his own vice president, whose life was being threatened.”

“Some of you may ask, who was paying attention anyway? Well, that mob was paying attention,” Castro said, citing video of a rioter reading Trump’s tweet over a megaphone during the Capitol riot.

Castro also highlighted a host of Republicans who were publically imploring Trump to call off the rioters, characterizing his failure to do so as a dereliction of duty while serving as commander in chief.

Never-before-seen video presented by impeachment managers on Wednesday showed Pence being ushered out of the Senate chamber just minutes before the pro-Trump rioters overtook the building. Some were shown walking through the hallways and looking for him in objection to his officiating the Electoral College count that affirmed President Biden’s victory.