Twitter has permanently suspended Donald Trump from the platform, fearing “risk of further incitement of violence," the company said in a statement.
The president made his unapologetic return to the platform on Thursday following a ban for inciting supporters to riot at the US Capitol. He used the platform to declare that he would not attend Joe Biden’s inauguration on 20 January.
It came after he released a video attempting to evade blame for Wednesday’s violence. The clip, characteristically, was filled with falsehoods – he did not “immediately” order in the National Guard, and his “only goal” in disputing the election was not to ensure its integrity, as he claimed.
Meanwhile, Democrats could begin the process of impeaching the president as early as Monday, as he ignores growing calls to resign. Mike Pence has reportedly dismissed the idea of invoking the 25th amendment of the US Constitution, which would allow the vice president and Cabinet to remove the president.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Democratic House members on the fallout from Wednesday’s insurrection, thanking them for defending democracy; voicing disappointment in the leadership of the Capitol Police; updating on calls for removing Trump from office; and “preventing an unhinged president from using the nuclear codes”.
