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“I watched today’s actions on the Hill brokenhearted. Horrified. That’s not us,” Kelly said. “This is an attack on our democracy, our way of life, and not just by the criminals who assaulted our Congress today.”
Statement from former WH COS, Gen. John Kelly. pic.twitter.com/OXoADsWRug Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 7, 2021
Kelly continued by saying the Constitution is strong and that Americans are “overwhelmingly devoted to the rule of law.”
He never named Trump explicitly, but Kelly suggested that Americans need to look infinitely harder at who we elect to office.
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“We need to look infinitely harder at who we elect to any office in our land. At the office seeker’s character, at their morals, at their ethical record, their integrity, their honesty, their flaws, what they have said about women and minorities, why they are asking office in the first place, and only then consider the policies they espouse.”
The extraordinary attack on the symbolic epicenter of the U.S. s democracy left the building in tatters, at least one rioter dead and lawmakers in both parties shell-shocked by the unprecedented threat to their safety in a building previously thought to be virtually impenetrable.
Shortly before 4 a.m., after lawmakers formally tabulated each state s Electoral College votes, Vice President Pence announced before a joint session of Congress that Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris
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The images of chanting Trump supporters smashing windows, brawling with Capitol Police and marching unimpeded through the Rotunda quickly ricocheted around the globe, stunning Washington, the nation and the entire free world while leading to accusations from lawmakers in both parties that it was the president himself who had incited the riot.
Hours after the attack, Loeffler said she was dropping her plans to object to the results and condemned the violence. The events that transpired have forced me to reconsider and I cannot now in good conscience object to certification of these electors. The violence, the lawlessness and siege of the halls of Congress are abhorrent and stand as a direct attack on what my objection was intended to protect: the sanctity of the American democratic process, Loeffler said.
While Hawley and Cruz condemned the violence on Wednesday, the two Republican senators still voted to support objections to the election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Wolf issued a statement Thursday morning calling the events “tragic and sickening” and said it was “unacceptable” that some supporters of Trump resorted to violence “as a means to achieve political ends.”
Less than two hours after Wolf issued the statement, the White House announced that Trump had withdrawn his nomination to be the permanent secretary of Homeland Security. The Senate was not expected to take up Wolf’s nomination before President-elect Joe Biden
ADVERTISEMENT Acting Secretary Wolf remains the acting secretary and continues to perform the duties of his office, Deere said.
Wolf, who is currently on an official trip in the Middle East, forcefully condemned the violence in the statement and said he plans to remain in his position until Jan. 20 to ensure an “orderly transition” to Biden’s administration and to ensure DHS remains focused on domestic threats.