German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed anger and sadness at the storming of the Capitol in Washington on January 6 - and stressed that she holds outgoing President Trump responsible for events. 

Merkel: Trump prepared ground for storming of Congress

“We all saw the disturbing images of the storming of Congress,” she said on Thursday, before the beginning of the annual meeting of the CSU regional group. “These pictures made me angry and also sad.” She added that she was sure her friends in America felt exactly the same. 

Merkel was also clear on the fact that she blamed US President Donald Trump for preparing the ground for the incident. She said that a basic rule of democracy is that there are winners and losers after elections. Both have to play their role with decency and a sense of responsibility, “so that democracy itself remains the victor.”

Merkel said she regretted “that President Trump has not admitted his defeat since November and not yesterday either.” She emphasised that it was only when doubts were raised about the outcome of an election that “the atmosphere is created in which such violent events are possible.” 

“Seditious words turn to violent actions”

The German chancellor’s comments come alongside near-universal condemnation of the actions of Trump supporters on Wednesday, after hundreds of rioters stormed the Capitol building in Washington. Trump had appeared before his supporters earlier in the day, to repeat unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud and call upon his supporters to move to the Capitol, where a Senate meeting was being held to confirm the results of the US election.

Trump’s supporters then stormed the building, forcing the two chambers of congress to abandon proceedings and move to safety. Security forces only managed to regain control of the situation several hours later. Congress has since resumed its work, and the election victory for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris has now been confirmed. Four people are said to have died in the unrest.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the images from Washington showed a contempt for democracy. “Seditious words turn to violent actions - on the steps of the Reichstag, and now in the #Capitol,” he wrote on Twitter.  

Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz also made an overtly critical statement on Wednesday’s events. “Donald Trump is responsible for what happened there,” he said on RTL. “[He] incited many people and did not hold back.”