Donald Trump mocked for claiming he called in National Guard to calm Capitol riots, when it was Mike Pence
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Donald Trump mocked for claiming he called in National Guard to calm Capitol riots, when it was Mike Pence

DONALD TRUMP has been accused of lying about calling in the National Guard to quell the situation at the Capitol Building on Wednesday.

In a video posted to Twitter on Thursday - after his 12 hour suspension was lifted - the President claimed that he had been the one to ask the National Guard to step in, despite numerous media reports stating that it was in fact Vice President Mike Pence.

"I'd like to begin by addressing the heinous attack on the United States Capitol," Trump said.

"Like all Americans I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem.

"I immediately deployed the National Guard and federal law enforcement to secure the building and expel the intruders.

"America is and must always be a nation of law and order."

But his claim about calling in law enforcement was immediately disputed.

Outlets such as CNN, NBC and the New York Times all reported that it was Mr Pence who called them up.

"Trump did not immediately deploy the National guard yesterday as he claims in his video," tweeted CNN's White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

"He initially resisted it, according to several people, as CNN

Reports also indicate that the Pentagon may have stalled approval to send the National Guard into the Capitol on Wednesday.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said on Thursday that the Department of Defense "repeatedly denied" the authorisation of the deployment of Maryland's National Guard troops to help with the situation in D.C.