Newspapers from coast to coast were quick to condemn Donald Trump after his supporters attacked the Capitol.
New York Times: Trump Is to Blame for Capitol Attack
The president needs to be held accountable — through impeachment proceedings or criminal prosecution — and the same goes for his supporters who carried out the violence. In time, there should be an investigation of the failure of the Capitol Police to prepare for an attack that was announced and planned in public.
This is not just an attack on the results of the 2020 election. It is a precedent — a permission slip for similar opposition to the outcomes of future elections. It must be clearly rejected, and placed beyond the pale of permissible conduct.
The Washington Post: Trump caused the assault on the Capitol. He must be removed
Responsibility for this act of sedition lies squarely with the president, who has shown that his continued tenure in office poses a grave threat to U.S. democracy. He should be removed.
Mr. Trump encouraged the mob to gather on Wednesday, as Congress was set to convene, and to “be wild.” After repeating a panoply of absurd conspiracy theories about the election, he urged the crowd to march on the Capitol. “We’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you,” he said. “You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”
USA Today: Donald Trump triggers the American carnage he vowed to stop in his inaugural address
What to do about this man who has brought such ignominy upon our country? Censure by Congress? Certainly. Criminal exposure for inciting violence and pressuring Georgia’s secretary of state to flip that state’s election results? Perhaps.
But can any punishment truly fit the crime? Four years of Trump’s divisive leadership have produced impeachable conduct, failed management of a pandemic that has killed 360,000 Americans, and the undermining of democracy with self-serving and contrived claims of voter fraud.
And now — as a capstone — he fomented mob violence that had all the earmarks of an insurrection.
Los Angeles Times: Trump is responsible for the violent storming of U.S. Capitol
This is the predictable outcome of the grotesque charade being played not just by Trump but by Sens. Ted. Cruz (R-Texas), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and others who have aligned with Trump’s blatantly false assertions of voting fraud. Attacking democratic institutions attacks democracy itself, and what the nation witnessed Wednesday in Washington is the power of the mob to destabilize even the most stable of democracies.
The responsibility for this day of unconscionable attacks by Americans on the heart of our elective system belongs to Trump. But his enablers have much to answer for as well, and much to regret.
Seattle Times: Restore order after a shameful day in American history
Until Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20, Trump holds extensive official power. For the good of the nation, Vice President Mike Pence and cabinet officials should consider invoking the 25th amendment to take power out of Trump’s hands. He cannot be trusted.
Miami Herald: Trump is deranged, dangerous and ‘incapacitated.’ Invoke the 25th Amendment and remove him from office
It is time to invoke the 25th Amendment. It is time for President Trump — as he told the violent, radical thugs who support him no matter what; who crawled over the U.S. Capitol like spiders; who breached House and Senate chambers; who brazenly confronted overwhelmed, ill-prepared law-enforcement officers; who forced lawmakers to take shelter — to “go home.”
Wall Street Journal: The Disgrace On Capitol Hill
Mr. Biden will become President at noon on Jan. 20, and until then the police need to restore order with as much force as necessary. Republicans especially need to speak against trespass and violence. As for Mr. Trump, to steal some famous words deployed in 1940 against Neville Chamberlain: “In the name of God, go.”