Rep. Scalise: President Trump has denounced Capitol protests

February 21, 2021 KayAdmin US 0

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 02: Committee Ranking Member Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) speaks as Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar testifies before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, on Capitol Hill on October 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite-Pool/Getty Images)

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA). (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite-Pool/Getty Images)

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UPDATED 3:30 PM PT – Sunday, February 21, 2021

House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) defended President Trump from attacks over the Capitol breach on January 6. During an interview on Sunday, Scalise said the blame should mainly be placed on the hundreds of people who stormed the Capitol, not President Trump.

He noted federal agencies worked hard to hold protesters accountable and cited that nearly 200 of them were arrested. Scalise also highlighted Democrats’ quickness in pushing the blame for the January 6 event, but their reluctance in condemning BLM riots this past summer.

Protestors stand as mattresses are set on fire in front of the North Precinct Police building in Portland, Oregon on September 6, 2020. - Protestors are marching for an end to racial inequality and police violence. Aaron Danielson, 39, a supporter of a far-right group called Patriot Prayer, was fatally shot August 29, 2020, in Portland, Oregon after he joined pro-Trump supporters who descended on the western US city, sparking confrontations with Black Lives Matter counter-protesters. (Photo by Allison Dinner / AFP) (Photo by ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)

Protestors stand as mattresses are set on fire in front of the North Precinct Police building in Portland, Oregon on September 6, 2020. (Photo by ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)

“President Trump has denounced what happened,” Scalise stated. “And I think everybody should have been equivocal in their denouncing of what happened, not only on Jan. 6, but during the summer when they were burning down cities, shooting cops, beating people in the streets. You saw the left denouncing January 6 as we did, [but] they didn’t denounce what happened in the summer.”

A broken window of a bank is seen on H Street, near the White House following riots in Washington, DC on June 1, 2020. - Police fired tear gas outside the White House late Sunday as anti-racism protestors again took to the streets to voice fury at police brutality, and major US cities were put under curfew to suppress rioting.With the Trump administration branding instigators of six nights of rioting as domestic terrorists, there were more confrontations between protestors and police and fresh outbreaks of looting. Local US leaders appealed to citizens to give constructive outlet to their rage over the death of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis, while night-time curfews were imposed in cities including Washington, Los Angeles and Houston. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

A broken window of a bank is seen on H Street, near the White House following riots in Washington, DC on June 1, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Scalise urged both sides of the aisle to decry those who resort to violence to settle political disputes.