Has Donald Trump Invoked the Insurrection Act?

No. The law requires a president to issue a public proclamation.

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After a violent mob stormed the Capitol on January 6 to protest Joe Biden’s electoral victory several social media posts claiming that President Donald Trump had invoked the Insurrection Act, began circulating online. 

One viral Facebook post shows a screenshot of a Parler account identified as @TeamTrumpNews that claims that President Trump invoked the Insurrection Act in response to what is described as a “treasonous rebellion by Democrat & Republican lawmakers.” Part of the widely shared post reads as follows: “I have invoked the The Insurrection Act of 1807, to address the treasonous rebellion conducted by Democrat & Republican lawmakers, CCP agents, the FBI, DOJ, CIA & others to undermine, corrode, and dismantle the United States of America and its constitution.”

The claim that Trump has invoked the Insurrection Act is false. 

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  1. Clair

    My wife and I watched YouTube video my mom pointed us to of some guy who has a "Prophetic Ministry". He was claiming, per a government source, that Trump "signed" the Insurrection Act and martial law was coming. This would result in all the "traitors" being arrested and Michael Flynn would be Vice President.

    My mom wanted to know our thoughts on this video. Otherwise I wouldn't have risked the potential loss of IQ points watching this garbage. I did not know that there needed to be a public proclamation to use the Insurrection Act, so I appreciate the fact check.

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    DougAz

    How can a person leading by his words, deeds, call to Insurrection, be the party to invoke the Insurrection Act?

    It's not a paradox.

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  3. dlnevins

    Can the President even legally invoke the Insurrection Act when HE is the one who incited the insurrection? (Fortunately the Joint Chiefs of Staff despise Trump, and I don't think they'd be willing to play along with his charade.)

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    1. Clair

      You are trying to apply facts, logic and reality to people who aren't engaging in any of those things.

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  4. Rachel

    What people are saying online is that Trump invoked the warning for people to “disperse and retire peaceably to their abodes” when he told the rioters to “go home now” and that there needed to be peace.

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    Chad Blancett

    Toss in Colonel Sanders and you have a quorum of The Pentaverinth at The Meadows.

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    1. Peter Gessel

      I hated the Colonel with his wee *beady* eyes, and that smug look on his face. "Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken! Ohhhhh!"

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  6. Ryan

    Oh wow now the Vatican is in on the fix too? Who knew!

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      Farhall

      It's the work of the Deep Apostate

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    Alexander

    Given that the President has not invoked the Insurrection Act, doesn't that put to rest all arguments about applying the Fourteenth Amendment Section 3?

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      John Kramer

      Well, yes, it puts to rest using 14A to bar from office those who voted to certify the election. The (false) claim here is that those are the people who Trump had named as insurrectionists, not the MAGA rioters.

      But it doesn't mean that the 14A could not till be used against those who voted *against* certification, or the Executive, if it were found that they'd incited a seditious riot.

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  8. Counterpoint

    But they had a reliable source with no government role or contacts posting to YouTube from his basement. It just seemed so credible.

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      Kevin M. James

      They'll believe that over people who have a proven track record of knowing what they're talking about, every single time.

      It's one thing to have a healthy skepticism about credentials. It's quite another to have such a severe allergy to them that you'll only believe people who are bereft of any relevant metric of credibility whatsoever.

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