TODAY IN 180 SECONDS – Watch this video of Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Joe Biden and a pro-Trump riot that interrupted Congressional certification of Biden Electoral College victory. The congress is scheduled to meet again at 8 pm Eastern time.
THE FLOOR VIEW – Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), A former CIA operations officer, spoke with Nightly about how her day went. She called from a safe place while waiting for the next steps for the Electoral College certification. Her account has been edited:
I knew that today would not be an easy day. I had instructed my team that, unless they needed to be on Capitol Hill, I didn’t want them to enter. I instructed my team that anyone, should dress in jeans or gym clothes so that, to the point where they are presenting their bags, they are not necessarily identifiable as Hill employees. They just look like people.
So, I was wearing only black pants and a black T-shirt with a blazer, although I was wearing a hot pink blazer. As soon as it became clear that there was a problem, I took off my blazer because I don’t want to be the only one with the hot pink shirt.
We received alerts that Cannon was being evacuated. Then we received an alert that the Capitol complex was locked and no one could leave, no one could enter. At one point in time, the Capitol police unceremoniously led the Speaker and then led the Chamber’s leadership. And it was then that it became clear that things were really escalating.
@sarahnferris, 13:14: WOW Hill staff just received this alert
“Madison: EVACUATE. Proceed to your designated assembly area. USCP”
It is never ideal to see the Speaker being taken away. So it was clearly an indication that there was a problem.
From there, we were instructed to prepare our gas masks. They had implanted chemical irritants in Statuary Hall, we were told. We wanted to make sure that we could be evacuated by potential chemical irritants. So, first it was, “Put them on.” And then it was, “You don’t have to have them yet.” It was kind of a process.
At one point, it started to get very tense because people were knocking on the door of the House, the door of the chamber. They broke the glass. Capitol police barricaded the door with benches and tables, and barricading with benches and tables is clearly not a daily protocol. This is not great. And then they are telling us to come down.
Everyone was coming down. And try to make sure that everyone was listening to the police who were working to make sure that they were helping to get – you know there were members of the press there too – to get people out of there. So, we spent some time on the ground, and finally, when they had secured an exit route for us, we got out of there quickly and headed for another safe place.
I’m in a safe place now. Maybe three hours ago, they said it would be an hour before we left.
Some people are chatting. There is a lot of rhythm. I think everyone seems to be in a good mood. Someone found that they passed by with water jugs, so we have water. If you heard me chewing rudely – I’ll be honest, a member came in with a box of chocolates and gave everyone some chocolate. So, I bought some chocolate, which was lovely, and I couldn’t wait to eat it. But you will forgive me.
I’m in the same place as Liz Cheney and Hakeem Jeffries. I am receiving this directly from the leadership of the caucuses. They are just finding out where they can do this. The way you face those who want to destroy our democracy is by stating that our democracy cannot be stopped and that we, as legislators, cannot be threatened with failing to do our job and duty.
It is a shameful day. It better be our rock bottom.
Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper told me that the country needs an “aggressive cure”. It seems very appropriate today. Get in touch with [email protected] and [email protected] or on Twitter at @renurayasam and @myahward.
THE MOST RECENTLY – POLITICO’s coverage of today’s historical events:
– All members of the DC National Guard have been mobilized to help federal police officers control violent protests in Washington, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser mobilized 350 DC National Guard soldiers on Tuesday in anticipation of the expected disturbances, but these troops are tasked with controlling the crowd and have not been on Capitol Hill.
– Former President George W. Bush condemned the crowd of protesters who invaded the US Capitol – and Republican lawmakers who sought to delegitimize the presidential election.
– Interim Attorney General Jeff Rosen also condemned the troublemakers today and said federal agents were being sent to end the conflict.
– YouTube, Twitter and Facebook restricted one of Trump’s posts today after he asked protesters to “come home,” but repeated baseless allegations of a rigged election that drew dozens of his supporters to Washington. Twitter has already blocked the president’s account for 12 hours after removing three tweets.
– Photos from DC: Steven Voss captured the chaos on the streets of Washington, shown in this photo gallery.
Nightly asks you: Were you at the Capitol today? Tell us what you saw using this form. Responses can be published in POLITICO.
THE VIEW FROM THE OUTSIDE – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg deplored the “shocking scenes in Washington, DC” and added that “the result of this democratic election must be respected”. Josep Borrell, the EU chief diplomat tweeted: “In the eyes of the world, American democracy seems under siege tonight.”
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney today called “a deliberate attack on democracy by an incumbent president and his supporters”. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece, the cradle of democracy: “Extremely concerned about the violence and horrible events that occur in Washington DC, American democracy is resilient”.
Monica Frassoni, the president of the European Electoral Support Center, told our Ryan Heath that America “must take care of its democracy very much: it is fragile like all the others. And you must train your police better, who are quick to shoot at lonely black passersby, but quite ineffective with white crowds. ”Marietje Schaake, president of the Cyber Peace Institute and a former member of the European Parliament, today called it” historic, deeply tragic, destructive and a breaking point “. She described American polarization as “taking on frightening characteristics. Attacks on democracy will be widespread and deep. I just hope it will serve as a rallying cry to work to defend democracy ”.
Many Hungarians compared the scenes to how the elements of their democracy began to fall apart in 2006, while others compared the scenes to the banana republics of Latin America.
Headlines around the world focused on Trump supporters “attacking” or “invading” Congress. Le Monde led with Biden’s denunciation of “unprecedented aggression” on Capitol Hill, while Europe’s largest circulation newspaper, the German tabloid Bild, took over its home page to show live videos without interruption of extraordinary scenes, and networks Australian companies provided 24 hours a day. roof.
The British network ITV – its NBC equivalent – desperately filmed overworked policemen and followed the crowd to the president’s office while a man shouted “the government did this to us!” Washington correspondent Robert Moore assumed, “This is by no means a surprise, it was fueled by the president’s rhetoric,” adding, “America’s long journey as a stable democracy seems to be in genuine doubt.”
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