Trump ‘fuelled the fire’ while lawmakers fled for their lives during Capitol riot, Democrats say

Donald Trump's refusal to immediately condemn and "call off" the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January was a "dereliction" of his duty as commander-in-chief, Democrats argued at the former president's impeachment trial on Wednesday.

"Senators, ask yourselves this: how easy would it have been for the president to give a simple command, a simple instruction just telling them [to] stop [and] leave?" impeachment manager Joaquin Castro said.

Mr Castro and fellow manager David Cicilline lit into Mr Trump on Wednesday evening for his response to the 6 January riot as it was happening, when instead of urging his supporters to vacate the Capitol, quit hunting down lawmakers, and bludgeoning police the ex-president was calling lawmakers to compel them to delay Joe Biden's electoral certification.

"The first critical hour and a half of this bloody attack, Donald Trump tweeted [a video of] his rally speech, and did nothing else," Mr Cicilline said.

The Rhode Island Democrat cited contemporaneous reports that Mr Trump was "delighted" his supporters, whom he had addressed just minutes earlier, had breached the security perimeter at the Capitol and were descending on the House and Senate chambers.

"Trump's reaction to this attack reportedly genuinely freaked people out. I can understand why. We just suffered a very serious attack on our country. And we saw it, and the people around him. But when Donald Trump saw it, he was 'delighted,'" Mr Cicilline said.

Mr Cicilline recounted the extraordinary danger the mob's breach presented to lawmakers, showing videos of the ex-president's supporters threatening Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Vice President Mike Pence.

"They were coming for us. They were inside the United State Capitol, trying to stop the certification process. The police were outnumbered. ... And but for the grace of God, they would have gotten us. All of us," Mr Cicilline said.

The managers explained how several GOP lawmakers went on live TV to implore Mr Trump to make a statement telling his supporters to go home.

The then-president and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reportedly got in a shouting match over the phone, with Mr McCarthy pleading with Mr Trump to help law enforcement take back control of the situation at the Capitol.

"It wasn't until 2:38pm, nearly two hours after the start of the siege, that Donald Trump even acknowledged the attack," Mr Castro said on Wednesday, displaying a screen shot of a tweet from the ex-president that he suggested was wholly inadequate in responding to the situation.

Mr Trump's tweet, which has since been taken down along with his entire profile, read: "Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!"

"Much has been made of the fact that in his tweet, he says, 'stay peaceful.' Senators, 'stay peaceful'? Think about that for a second. These folks were not peaceful. This was a violent, armed attack. Stay peaceful? How about stop the attack, stop the violence," Mr Castro said.

He continued: "[The president] said, 'Please support our law enforcement.' How about he actually support our law enforcement by telling these insurgents to leave the Capitol immediately, which he never did. He didn't. Because the truth is, he didn't want it to stop. He wanted them to stay and to stop the certification. And his failure had grave, had deadly consequences."