Julián Castro Calls for Donald Trump to be Held Accountable for Capitol Riot
Former Democratic presidential candidate and HUD Secretary Julián Castro is calling for “accountability,” from President Donald Trump after last week’s siege on the U
Photo: Wikimedia/Gage Skidmore
Former Democratic presidential candidate and HUD Secretary Julián Castro is calling for “accountability,” from President Donald Trump after last week’s siege on the U.S. Capitol. “There needs to be accountability for him inciting insurrection,” Julián told Alicia Menendez on MSNBC’s American Voices on Sunday. Julián’s statement came less than 24 hours before House Democrats formally announced they would vote to impeach Trump on charges of “incitement of insurrection” on Wednesday, if Vice President Mike Pence does not invoke the 25th amendment by then.
A vocal and longtime critic of President Trump, Julián also shared a video on his social media accounts saying, “The attack on the Capitol was the inevitable consequence of a party that has stoked division, racism, and violence for years. We must hold the president and his allies who fueled this violence responsible, or risk an attack far worse than what we saw on Wednesday.”
“I believe that he should be removed from office in any way that they can legally do that…the 25th amendment or of course, through impeachment. I actually don’t believe that it matters that he only has less than two weeks left in office, because there needs to be accountability for him inciting insurrection. If you don’t hold this president accountable right now, you’re sending a message to future leaders, to future megalomaniacs that it’s okay.”
Julián also named a number of Republican senators including Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, suggesting that their objections to the certification of President Elect Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, also played a part in the the devastating events that occurred last Wednesday, pointing out that charging Trump would also “indict” a number of other politicians that have supported his false accusations surrounding the results of the election.
“This has been clear what this man is for a very long time. Even before he ran for president,” said Julián. “Whether it was essentially calling for the death penalty for five young men who did not commit a crime in Central Park in 1989 or any number of other things. This is just the latest in a string, a pattern of behavior of inciting others to violence or at least stirring up the passions of people and you know, essentially sanctioning views that lead to violence,” he asserted.
“They had to feel personally endangered, personally endangered themselves, before they could see clearly,” Julián said of a number of Republican politicians who have renounced Trump since the attack on the Capitol, indicating that he believes many of these politicians and Trump supporters throughout the country are still not prepared to hold him accountable for his actions not just since the election, but throughout his term. “To me, what that means is that the Republican party as we know it should not exist as a party. It needs a fundamental transformation,” he said.
