Joe Biden’s victory
Merkel and Johnson Blame Trump for Riot, but Europe Also Expresses Hope
As America’s European allies digested events that rocked Washington, many expressed faith in the strength of U.S. democracy to prevail.
BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain on Thursday placed the blame for mob violence at the U.S. Capitol squarely on President Trump.
Ms. Merkel and other leaders of the United States’ strongest allies in Europe expressed faith in the strength of American democracy, although Mr. Johnson said that the riot had undermined the image of the United States.
“These pictures made me angry and sad,” Ms. Merkel said, speaking before an online gathering of her conservative party’s Bavarian partners, the Christian Social Union, minutes after the United States Congress confirmed President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory.
“I deeply regret that since November, President Trump has not accepted that he lost, and did not do so again yesterday,” Ms. Merkel said. “He stoked uncertainties about the election outcome, and that created an atmosphere that made the events of last night possible.”
Speaking at a news conference in London, Mr. Johnson condemned Mr. Trump for encouraging mob violence.
“Insofar as he encouraged people to storm the Capitol, and insofar as the president consistently has cast doubt on the outcome of a free and fair election, I believe that that was completely wrong,” Mr. Johnson said at a news conference in London.
He said he wanted to “unreservedly condemn encouraging people to behave in the disgraceful way that they did in the Capitol.”
Mr. Johnson, who until recently cultivated close ties to Mr. Trump, suggested that the values America represented for the rest of the world had been endangered.
“All my life America has stood for some very important things, an idea of freedom and an idea of democracy,” Mr. Johnson said.
(source: nytimes.com)
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