Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday the U.S. Senate will not be intimidated by mobs and will continue to fulfill its constitutional duty to certify the result of the presidential election.
“The United States Senate will not be intimidated. We will not be kept out of this chamber by thugs, mobs or threats. We will not bow to lawlessness or intimidation. We are back at our posts. We will discharge our duty under the Constitution,” the Kentucky Republican said. “We are going to do it tonight.”
The mob of protesters, which Mr. McConnell called “unhinged,” interrupted the joint session of Congress that convened Wednesday afternoon to certify the 2020 election results in favor of President-elect Joseph R. Biden.
President Trump had urged his supporters to protest the election, and following his speech on the National Mall, they broke into the Capitol, prompting lawmakers to be forced into a safe area as gunshots broke out in the Capitol and one woman died.
“They tried to disrupt our democracy, they failed,” Mr. McConnell said. “Criminal behavior will never dominate the United States Congress.”
Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer echoed Mr. McConnell, saying the mob only delayed the work for a few hours and that the criminals must be prosecuted.
The New York Democrat called the agitators a “group of thugs” and marked them as domestic terrorists.
“They do not represent America,” he said.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.