Former National Security Advisor Says Trump ‘Was Trying To Stage A Coup’

A former National Security official to the president has stated that Donald Trump was ‘trying to stage a coup’ when he incited his supporters to attack the Capitol.

Earlier this week, historic scenes unfolded as Trump supporters inflicted terror on the Capitol after he told them to ‘fight much harder’ to overturn the democratic election. While the transition between presidents now appears to be underway, many have been coming to terms with the events that transpired which tested American democracy and took five lives.

Fiona Hill who served as a US national security adviser on Russia for Trump between 2017 and 2019, has now spoken about the severity of the incident.

Speaking to The Daily Beast, Hill discussed the goal of Trump when he encouraged followers to protest at the Capitol:

The president was trying to stage a coup. There was little chance of it happening, but there was enough chance that the former defense secretaries had to put out that letter, which was the final nail through that effort. They prevented the military from being involved in any coup attempt. But instead, Trump tried to incite it himself.

Hill went on to note:

This could have turned into a full-blown coup had he had any of those key institutions following him. Just because it failed or didn’t succeed doesn’t mean it wasn’t real.

In the wake of the riots, more than two dozen congressmen and women have called for Trump’s impeachment, and he has been removed from Facebook and Instagram for the duration of his presidency. This will undoubtedly impact his ability to communicate to his following, although he is now back on Twitter after a ban for inciting violence.

There have been discussions about using the 25th Amendment to remove the president because of grounds for impeachment. However, given the fact that there is now less than two weeks until the transition of power, it seems that Vice President Mike Pence is unwilling to take this measure.

Going forward, many will want to put the turbulent election and reaction to the results behind them. Particularly, as the United States prides itself on being a democracy, and not a country that could fall victim to a coup.

Nevertheless, the scenario described by Hill draws attention to a dangerous position that democracy can quickly find itself in.

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