US: Trump Privately Blamed ‘Antifa People’ For Storming US Capitol

The US President Donald Trump privately blamed Antifa people for storming the US Capitol the last Wednesday, even though clear video and documentary evidence shows the rioters were overwhelmingly his supporters, Axios website reported. Antifa, short for anti-fascist, is an amorphous movement. Members of the group have clashed with far right groups in the past few years. Mr

Trump threatened to label the group as a “terrorist” organisation following protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man and other acts of police brutality. Donald Trump made the remark in a thirty minute plus phone call on Monday morning with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, reported citing a White House official and another source familiar with

the call. However, McCarthy told Mr Trump in the call which according to Axios was tense and aggressive at times, It’s not Antifa, it’s MAGA [supporters of Trump]. I know. I was there. McCarthy also advised Trump to call Joe Biden, meet with the president elect and leave a welcome letter in the Resolute desk for his successor, according to the report. The White House immediately

alledgely didn't respond to a request for comment. A Representative of Mr. McCarthy was not immediately available for comment. The storming of the Capitol building last week by Trump supporters delayed the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. Trump, who has without evidence challenged the validity of Biden’s election win, initially praised his supporters but later condemned the violence. Politicians were forced to flee

as the building was mobbed by president’s supporters, who overwhelmed security forces. Five people died in the violence, including one Capitol Police officer who was beaten as he tried to ward off the crowds. Antifa has been a favoured target of American conservatives, including Trump, for their opposition to far-right backers of the US president. Anti-fascists of the movement tend to be grouped on the left fringes of the US political spectrum, many describing themselves as socialists, anarchists, communists or anti-capitalists.