The invasion of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob was an assault on U.S. democracy, said farm state lawmakers on Wednesday. Rioters interrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s election as president over President Trump, who told protesters that he would never concede defeat. Biden and former president George W. Bush called the invasion an insurrection.
“Today’s violent attack on the U.S. Capitol was an assault on American democracy itself,” said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “I condemn today’s violence in the strongest terms, and the perpetrators deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
When the Senate reconvened in the evening, Vice President Mike Pence said that “the resilience and strength of our democracy” would prevail over the violence and vandalism of the afternoon. “Let’s get back to work.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decried the “failed insurrection.” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump was to blame: “This mob was, in good part, President Trump’s doing. Incited by his words. His lies.”
House Rules chairman Jim McGovern, who also serves on the Agriculture Committee, said, “Today our freedom, our democracy, and our country were attacked by domestic terrorists who were following Donald Trump’s orders.” And Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, the House Agriculture member selected by Biden to become Housing secretary, said, “The very people who believe they are protecting our democracy succeeded in destroying it.”
Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon called the mob’s actions reprehensible, and Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis said, “The lawlessness has to stop.” Both are Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee.
“We condemn the violence at the U.S. Capitol and encourage respect for the rule of law,” said North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven, a Republican member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees USDA funding.
The National Farmers Union described the mob as “far-right insurrectionists,” and its president, Rob Larew, said, “These acts of intimidation and terror have no place in this country, and they cannot be condoned or brushed aside. More than that, this event demonstrates just how fragile democracy truly is. … It requires action on the part of every American.”