McConnell points finger at Trump in US Capitol riot: ‘The mob was fed lies’

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is explicitly pointing his finger at US President Donald Trump for helping to spur the attack on the Capitol by the outgoing president’s supporters.

The Kentucky Republican says today on the Senate floor, “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.”

McConnell speaks six days after the Democratic-led House impeached Trump on charges of inciting the January 6 attack. A Senate trial on whether to convict Trump and perhaps bar him from ever again holding federal office is expected to begin in the coming days.

After years of supporting Trump with little criticism of him, the influential McConnell has said he’s not decided whether he would vote to convict him. His decision may prove critical, because in a Senate that will be divided 50-50 between the two parties, it would take 17 Republicans to join all Democrats for the two-thirds margin needed for conviction.

Joe Biden replaces Trump as president at noon EST tomorrow.