The mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was engaged in nothing less than a seditious insurrection. Everyone who participated in the violence and lawlessness acted disgracefully. Officials who set the tone for the sedition, especially President Trump, acted even more disgracefully, as they are expected to know better, indeed to lead.
Political violence is no joke. It destroys the rule of law. Trump should have been aware of the 1998 incident, in which two Capitol Police officers were killed by a gunman, and certainly of the more recent attempt to slaughter a good portion of the House Republican caucus on a baseball field. Political lies, including Trump’s lie of a rigged election, can have tragic consequences.
Any acts of sedition must be put down with as much force as necessary. This nation is known for its peaceful elections and transitions. Mobs must not be allowed to disrupt the workings of the republic by storming the edifices of democracy. Those political allies of Trump who have strongly condemned this violence — Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, for example — should be encouraged to continue doing so. Meanwhile, it is a disgrace that Trump was so slow and so weak in denouncing the violence and used his statement to repeat his canard about the election being stolen. Joe Biden’s statement condemning events at the Capitol and calling for peace was, by contrast, dignified, statesmanlike, and ringingly clear.
There is a majesty to self-government, but there is no majesty in the depravity of a mob. Arrests and convictions are warranted in response. But that is not all. A massive apology should come from Trump, not that it can be expected. After encouraging violence among his supporters many times, including when he infamously told a rally in 2016 that he would “pay the legal fees” of anyone who would “knock the crap out of” a protester, he has spent the last two months spreading unfounded conspiracy theories about the election and urging his supporters to “get tougher.” He repeatedly incited rallygoers on Wednesday to “walk down Pennsylvania Avenue” to the U.S. Capitol, to “not take it any longer,” and to “never concede.”
Trump knew what he was doing. He was whipping a sizable portion of the crowd of his supporters into a frenzy. He was acting like a tinpot strongman, not like the president of the United States. His behavior was inexcusable.
For the good of the republic, every member of Congress who intended to challenge the certified election results should now refrain from doing so. The time for contesting the election has passed. As McConnell said in a magnificent speech just before the Capitol was breached, members of Congress “cannot simply declare ourselves a national Board of Elections on steroids.” That is not their job. The states certify the presidential election; Congress’s role is merely to acknowledge and honor the results duly certified by state officials.
For Congress to continue as though the Capitol had not been breached would be dangerously irresponsible. National unity is needed. The only appropriate way to achieve unity is for Congress unanimously to recognize that Biden is the duly elected president because love him or hate him, that’s what he is.
The U.S. has more than two centuries of experience at maintaining a constitutional order that cherishes liberty without risking anarchy. The nation will move past Wednesday’s unforgivable events. Having looked into the abyss, it is time to draw back from it, return to order, and seek comity and compromise.
