Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6 were “fed lies” and “provoked by the president” in Tuesday remarks from the Senate floor.
The Senate was meeting for the first time since certifying the Electoral College votes after they “reclaimed the Capitol from violent criminals,” according to McConnell.
“The mob was fed lies,” the Kentucky Republican said.
“They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government, which they did not like.”
McConnell added that an “angry mob” would not get “veto power over the rule of law in our nation.”
The majority leader said that after President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated, “We’ll move forward.”
“Our work for the American people will continue as it has for more than 230 years,” McConnell said.
“There are serious challenges that our nation needs to continue confronting. But there will also be great and hopeful opportunities for us to seize.”
.@senatemajldr on the U.S. Capitol Attack: "The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people." pic.twitter.com/QIeviyHkl3
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 19, 2021
In response to the incursion of the Capitol, Biden’s inauguration is under extremely tight security.
Three new Democratic senators-elect will be sworn into office Wednesday shortly after the inauguration, according to The Associated Press.
Democrats will have a slim majority with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote in a 50-50 chamber.
“So our marching orders from the American people are clear: We are to have a robust discussion and seek common ground. We are to pursue bipartisan agreement everywhere we can and check and balance one another respectively where we must,” McConnell said.
“And through all of this, we must always keep in mind that we are all Americans. We all love this country. And we are all in this together.”
McConnell’s comments come six days after the House of Representatives passed an article of impeachment against President Donald Trump for allegedly inciting the insurrection.
Senators are currently facing the choice of whether to hold an impeachment trial for Trump after he leaves office.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has urged Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to support a vote to dismiss the article of impeachment because it would delay “indefinitely, if not forever, the healing of this great nation if we do otherwise,” Politico reported.