- Fiona Hill, a former White House national security official, said President Donald Trump had attempted a “self-coup” by inciting his supporters’ base to storm the Capitol on January 6.
- In a report published by Politico on Monday, Hill set out why she saw the January 6 incident as a “coup”, although there were some who disagreed with her.
- “Trump disguised what he did by working in clear vision and talking openly about his intention,” Hill wrote. “He normalized his actions so that people would accept them. I have been studying authoritarian regimes for three decades, and I know the signs of a coup when I see it.”
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A former White House national security official said President Donald Trump had attempted a “self-coup” by urging his supporters to storm the Capitol building.
Fiona Hill, who served under the Bush, Obama and Trump administration and was a key witness in Trump’s indictment, wrote an open speech on Monday describing what she believes was the president’s role in the January 6 uprising.
“Since Wednesday, people have been arguing over what they can call what happened at the U.S. Capitol – was it a riot? An uprising?” A revolt? “Hill wrote in the op-ed published by Politico.” I have already called it a coup, but others do not agree. “
She outlined why she saw the events at the Capitol as a coup, saying the Capitol’s unprecedented storms were the culmination of a series of actions and events taken or incited by Trump to retain the presidency together amounts to an attempt at a self-coup. ‘
“Trump disguised what he did by working in clear vision and talking openly about his intention,” Hill wrote. “He normalized his actions so that people would accept it.”
“I have been studying authoritarian regimes for three decades, and I know the signs of a coup when I see it.”
Read more: Trump has deliberately “tried to stage a coup”, says a former White House national security official
In the statement, Hill outlined what she calls a “standard coup” checklist that analysts use to determine whether certain incidents can be considered coups, involving the military, communications, the judiciary, government institutions and the legislature. include.
“The truth is that Trump has been testing the American democratic system for the past four years to see if anyone will help him,” the former national security official wrote. Think of how many times he said he ‘earned’ two or even three terms of office because he was treated ‘unfairly’ or ‘deceived’ by the ‘Russian farce’ from the first two years of his presidency, Mueller’s investigation and last year’s indictment. ‘
“During 2020, when she judged polls, the president laid the foundation for what would become the Big Lie that he won the election,” she added.
Read more: We analyzed 23 memos from CEOs responding to the U.S. Capitol riot. The most effective messages become personal.
She further called on the Republican Republicans who support Trump’s election results challenges to ‘take personal responsibility for their actions in support of Trump’s coup attempt’ to ‘restore democratic norms and make sure they do not happen again’ .
“They need to tell the truth to their voters about the election and what the president tried to do in January 2021,” Hill said. “They owe it to the people they represent, as well as to the country they serve.”