Trump is a 'narcissistic, reckless demagogue,' says ex-Speaker Bercow
8 January 2021, 11:26
John Bercow lambasts President Trump over Capitol riots
"Trump is a narcissistic, reckless demagogue," says ex-Commons Speaker John Bercow, reflecting on the unprecedented "assault on democracy" at the US Capitol.
It comes after the unprecedented scenes in America on Wednesday, which saw a woman shot dead and four others die after pro-Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.
Protesters sieged the building while Congress debated the Electoral College vote that gave Joe Biden the presidency.
Mr Bercow attributed the violent riot in Washington DC as a "culmination of a sequence of events of a mindset, of a type of behaviour demonstrated by President Trump over the last four years."
As Speaker, Mr Bercow blocked the President Trump from speaking in Parliament on his state visit in 2017, stating that "opposition to racism and sexism" were "hugely important considerations".
"I think right thinking people of all political persuasions, and of none, will come together in horror and justified execration at what's happened in the United States," he said.
"I'm sorry to say I told you so but a lot of people said over a very long period that this was no normal President of the United States.
"This was a President unbelievably almost indescribably narcissistic, obsessed with himself, utterly disrespectful of anybody who held an opinion that differed from his own, and inclined ultimately to turn on everybody."
Read more: Police officer dies from injuries suffered in Capitol riots
Bercow believes Trump's reaction to losing is 'part of his playbook'
The former Speaker called for Trump to be impeached before his due departure date from office.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned Donald Trump, saying on Thursday that he was "completely wrong to encourage protestors."
Mr Bercow told Nick that the PM "could have gone further" in his denunciation of the President and "took too long about it", however welcomed the message.
"The truth of the matter is that over a period of years members of the Conservative Government were very much inclined and extremely keen to pay homage to President Trump.
"Some aspects of the Trump playbook have been replicated in the United Kingdom, not the most extreme elements I hasten to add.
"Michael Gove rushed to interview President Trump, Jacob Rees-Mogg said if he were an American citizen he would have voted for President Trump, in 2018 Boris Johnson said he thought Donald Trump should be a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize."
Read more: Donald Trump says he is 'outraged by lawlessness, violence and mayhem' at US Capitol
