McEnany says Trump condemns the Capitol riots – then walks out without taking questions

White House spokeswoman reaffirms commitment to peaceful transfer of power to Biden

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany denounced the violence of pro-Trump rioters who overran the US Capitol on Wednesday as “appalling, reprehensible, and antithetical to the American way” at a press conference on Thursday before walking away from the podium without taking any questions.

“We condemn it – the president and this administration – in the strongest possible terms. It is unacceptable. And those that broke the law should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Ms McEnany said.

The press secretary’s remarks on Thursday about the previous day’s bloodshed and terror at the Capitol lasted less than two minutes. She then stepped away from the podium and bolted for the exit, amid shouted questions from the White House press corps.

Ms McEnany suggested that the White House viewed the siege and riots at the Capitol on Wednesday as similar to Black Lives Matter protests from last year that at times erupted into pockets of violence.

“Make no mistake, what we saw yesterday afternoon in the halls of our Capitol likewise was not [a peaceful assembly],” the press secretary said.

At least four people have died as a result of the pro-Trump mob’s storming of the legislature on Wednesday. One woman was shot and killed by Capitol Police outside the House chamber.

“We grieve for the loss of life and those injured, and we hold them in our prayers and close to our hearts at this time,” Ms McEnany said.

Ms McEnany did not address whether the president felt personally responsible for the national security crisis at the Capitol on Wednesday, after he whipped the crowd into a frenzy before its march on Congress.

She also did not comment on calls from Democratic, and even many Republican, lawmakers for Mr Trump to be removed from office after he stoked the rioters and failed to respond quickly and forcefully to their violence.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said Democrats will move forward with impeachment articles against Mr Trump if Vice President Mike Pence does not remove and replace him for the remainder of his term via a clause in the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution.

“This is urgent. This is an emergency of the highest magnitude,” Ms Pelosi said.

At his “Save America March” on the Ellipse just south of the White House on Wednesday afternoon, the president encouraged thousands of supporters to march on the Capitol, telling them to be “strong”.

He unleashed his usual torrent of unsubstantiated and disproven conspiracy theories claiming President-elect Joe Biden had “stolen” the election from him through widespread Democratic voter fraud.

“We will never give up,” Mr Trump said to roars of applause. “We will never concede. It doesn’t happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved. Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore, and that’s what this is all about.”

The crowd then migrated over to the Capitol, breached police lines, and ran roughshod through the legislature.

Mr Trump remained defiant throughout the day. Reports emerged that he was “borderline enthusiastic” about the chaos at the Capitol; senior aides either quit or leaked to reporters they were considering stepping down.

Mr Trump reportedly resisted sending in the National Guard to protect his own vice president – not to mention the thousands of other lawmakers, political staffers and public employees in peril.

Early on Thursday, shortly after Congress had certified Mr Biden’s Electoral College victory despite several Republican objections, Mr Trump issued his first formal statement promising to peacefully hand off power to Mr Biden.

“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” he said in a statement posted to Twitter by deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.

The president’s personal Twitter account, which has more than 88m followers, was locked at the time.

“I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!” Mr Trump tweeted.