Business leaders and Connecticut lawmakers of nearly all levels and political persuasions joined the general condemnation of yesterday”™s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Connecticut”™s Congressional delegation witnessed the violence firsthand and were in lockdown for several hours after the mob, seeking to overturn the results of the November election, burst into both of its chambers. Debate over various Republicans”™ moves to object to the results in Arizona, before officially certifying Joe Biden”™s victory, was halted.
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes tweeted throughout the experience. “Police have just told us to be prepared to get under our chairs in the chamber,” he wrote at 2:33 p.m. “They”™ve placed guards in the galleries. Lieutenant advising us to be prepared to get behind our seats. There is no behind our seats.”
Four minutes later, he added: “Police have asked us to get gas masks out as there has been tear gas used in the rotunda.”
Upon returning to the chamber, Himes tweeted: “Today”™s insurrectionists will be prosecuted and jailed. @realDonaldTrump bears responsibility and will answer to history and the law. I hope my @GOP colleagues wake up at great long last. Let”™s get this done.”
Himes, whose district includes Bridgeport, Norwalk, and Stamford, later issued a statement reading: “Today”™s seditious riot, attempting to overturn the rightful election of Joe Biden, is the inevitable and tragic result of months and years of lies and incitement by Donald Trump and his craven enablers. There is blood on their hands. This is domestic terrorism, and the traitors who brought this violence to the hallowed halls of democracy are the shame of the nation and must be brought to justice.
“We will never be dissuaded from carrying out our sacred oaths to the Constitution and ensuring the transition of power on behalf of the American people,” he continued. “On January 20th, Joe Biden will be President. Kamala Harris will be Vice President. And no lies, threats, or mobs can change that truth.”
“January 6 will go down as a dark day in United States’ history, but our democracy will prevail over the violent mob that ransacked our Capitol,” said U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, whose district includes Stratford. “In two weeks, President-elect Biden will take office and begin the work of healing our nation.”
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal tweeted: “I”™m absolutely sickened by scenes of anarchist mobs violently swarming the Capitol. It”™s not a protest ”“ it”™s armed insurrection. This is an assault on the heart of our democracy incited & fueled by the President of the U.S. & his enablers.”
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted: “This is an insurrection. And President Trump bears responsibility. It will not succeed. It will not stop us from doing the work of democracy. It will not stop the transfer of power. Those responsible will be held accountable.”
Trump had incited the crowd earlier in the day during a rally near the White House, telling them to “walk down Pennsylvania Avenue ”¦ to give our Republicans ”“ the weak ones, because the strong ones don”™t need any of our help ”“ we”™re going to try and give them kind of pride and boldness they need to take back our country.”
Though he indicated he would march with his supporters, he did not.
As the situation continued to deteriorate yesterday, Trump issued a video statement calling for followers to “go home” while adding, “We love you, you”™re very special.”
Gov. Ned Lamont ”“ who a few hours earlier had declared he had “never been more optimistic about our future” in his State of the State address ”“ released a video on Twitter in the midst of the insurrection. “Mr. President, words have consequences and your angry words have dangerous consequences,” Lamont said. “We”™re looking at the TV right now. Demand that your agitators stand down and respect the peaceful transfer of power.”
Trump: ‘Orderly transition’
After Congress reconvened and certified Biden”™s election, Trump released a statement at 3:50 this morning: “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 20. 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.”
Debate about impeaching Trump again, or invoking the 25th Amendment ”“ which would require Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of the Cabinet to vote to remove Trump from office due to his inability to “discharge the powers and duties of his office” ”“ are continuing.
“This is no protest, this is a violent insurrection. We’re under attack from within ”” figuratively and in fact,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said. “The terrorists, traitors and enablers who instigated, aided, and abetted this coup””including those in Congress– must be held accountable and never walk these halls of democracy again.
“The President must resign now,” Tong added. “Anyone still standing with Donald Trump in his attempt to reject the will of American voters and overthrow our democratically elected government shares his unmistakable guilt. Every American must reject this lawlessness and do everything possible to defend and protect our precious and now fragile union.”
In a joint statement, state Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) said: “Today’s chaos and violence is due to President Trump’s reckless comments and his rejection of the clear and decisive election results. Republicans everywhere should reject this violence, sedition, and subversion of American democracy.
“To the American people who are going about their lives as treason and sedition are happening at the U.S. Capitol, stop what you are doing and pay attention,” they added. “Be disgusted, appalled, and angry. We can never let this happen again. Our Democracy is fragile and freedom is not guaranteed.
“Demand that all our elected officials reject today’s events and the hate and lies over the past 4 years that caused this to happen,” they concluded.
“Sadness, heartbreak and shock and steely resolve for me as an elected state official to denounce in the strongest terms, this attack on our country”™s national capitol and the esprit de corps of democracy,” State Sen. Tony Hwang (R-28th) said. “There is no place in this world for the degree of violence and insurrection exhibited today in Washington, D.C.
“There is a very distinct difference between voicing one’s opinion against violent mob action ”“ especially in a manner today that threatens people”™s safety and undermines our political process,” Hwang said. “This is not a partisan issue. Every American deserves to express their freedom of speech and protest without putting themselves or other people’s health and safety at risk. It is our responsibility as proud Americans to speak up now and boldly renounce this un-American behavior.”
In a Twitter post yesterday, Fairfield First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick, a Republican, wrote: “These actions are dismantling a constitutionally mandated process that must play out. Storming our nation’s Capitol to access an occupied House and occupied Senate chambers, is despicable.”
Thumbs down from business groups
Yesterday”™s actions were also condemned by a number of business associations.
“The attacks against our nation”™s Capitol building and our democracy must end now,” Thomas Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. “The Congress of the United States must gather again this evening to conclude their constitutional responsibility to accept the report of the Electoral College.”
“Today”™s riots are repugnant and fly in the face of the most basic tenets of our Constitution,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation.
The Business Roundtable, a D.C.-based nonprofit whose members are the CEOs of major U.S. companies, issued a statement saying that, “The country deserves better. Business Roundtable calls on the President and all relevant officials to put an end to the chaos and to facilitate the peaceful transition of power.”
“Throughout this whole disgusting episode, Trump has been cheered on by members of his own party, adding fuel to the distrust that has enflamed violent anger,” said Jay Timmons, the group’s president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers and a former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“This is not law and order. This is chaos. It is mob rule,” he added. “This is sedition and should be treated as such. The outgoing president incited violence in an attempt to retain power, and any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favor of anarchy. Anyone indulging conspiracy theories to raise campaign dollars is complicit. Vice President Pence, who was evacuated from the Capitol, should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.
“Across America today, millions of manufacturing workers are helping our nation fight the deadly pandemic that has already taken hundreds of thousands of lives,” Timmons continued. “We are trying to rebuild an economy and save and rebuild lives. But none of that will matter if our leaders refuse to fend off this attack on America and our democracy ”” because our very system of government, which underpins our very way of life, will crumble.”
Biden and Harris are scheduled to take the oath of office on Jan. 20.
