On Election Day (Nov. 5), former President Donald Trump addressed reporters in Palm Beach, FL after casting his vote. Before leaving, he was asked if he would advise his supporters to refrain from violence and accept the election results. “I don’t have to tell them that,” he responded. “My supporters are not violent people. I don’t have to tell them... These are great people. These are people that believe in no violence.”

Pressed further on whether he would explicitly discourage violence, Trump reiterated his confidence that such a message was unnecessary. “I certainly don’t want any violence, but I certainly don’t have to tell them,” he stated. Trump then countered the line of questioning by suggesting, “Unlike your question. You believe in violence.”

On Jan. 6, 2021, a violent mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an apparent attempt to halt the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. The attack followed the former head of state’s repeated claims of election fraud and a speech encouraging his supporters to “fight like h**l.” The crowd that gathered breached security perimeters, which led to vandalism, looting, assaults on law enforcement, and death.

In the days following the attack, the House of Representatives impeached Trump for incitement of insurrection, though the Senate later acquitted him. A bipartisan investigation later found that Trump had a role in attempting to overturn the election, leading to his 2023 indictment on related charges. As of 2024, scores of individuals have been charged for their roles in the attack, including high-profile members of extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

“For the first time in our history, a president not just lost the election, he tried to prevent a peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol,” Biden stated on the one-year anniversary of the deadly event. “We must make sure that never happens again.”