Joe Biden condemns ‘siege’ on US Capitol as assault on democracy as Donald Trump tells mob ‘we love you’ but ‘go home’

Joe Biden has condemned the violent scenes at the US Capitol, as Donald Trump told his supporters who stormed the building in protest against the election result to “go home”.

The president-elect said US democracy was under “unprecedented assault," adding: "it’s not a protest, it’s an insurrection". 

Mr Biden demanded President Donald Trump immediately make a televised address calling on his supporters to cease the violence on Wednesday.

Mr Trump later made a recorded statement, telling the demonstrators to “go home”. However, in the clip he told his followers that the results of the election were fraudulent, and he feels their "pain".

President Trump told the mob: “I know your pain, I know your hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us."

“It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it, especially the other side.”

“But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order.”

Mr Biden's condemnation came after protesters breached the US Capitol on Wednesday afternoon, forcing a delay in the constitutional process to affirm the president-elect's victory in the November election.

He addressed the violent protests as authorities struggled to take control of a chaotic situation at the Capitol that led to the evacuation of lawmakers.

Mr Biden had planned to deliver a speech focused on how to revive an economy and provide financial relief for small business owners reeling from the coronavirus pandemic from his native Delaware.

But shortly before he was to begin speaking, demonstrators broke into the capital, reaching as far as the House floor.

The building was locked down and police with guns drawn moved in as Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers were evacuated to secure locations.

National Guard troops were deployed and a citywide curfew called for shortly after dusk, as rioters continued to occupy the capital for hours.

"At this hour our democracy is under unprecedented assault unlike anything we've seen in modern times," Biden said.

He added that what unfolded was "an assault on the rule of law like few times we have ever seen it."

Mr Biden said the uprising bordered on sedition, adding, "The scenes of chaos at the capitol do not reflect a true America, do not represent who we are."

Pro-Trump supporters storm US Capitol

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"I call on this mob to pull back and allow democracy to go forward," Biden said. "At their best the words of a president can inspire, at their worst they can incite."

Biden also called on Mr Trump to "go on national television now" to "demand an end to this siege."

A joint session of Congress had convened to certified Mr Biden's election victory.

But as that was occurring, Mr Trump addressed thousands of demonstrators who had amassed outside the Capitol to cheer his baseless claims of voter fraud and to protest the results of a free and fair election simply because the candidate they support lost it.

Mr Trump's supporters moved on to besiege the Capitol — leading to unsettling scenes of chaos and violence unseen in Washington for decades.

Mr Biden's speech was delayed by more than an hour as the president-elect and aides tore up his scheduled remarks and worked to craft a new statement addressing the scene in the nation's capital.

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