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Two leading congressional Republicans, Sen. Ben Sasse and Rep. Liz Cheney, blamed President Trump for the riots and violence at the U.S. Capitol today, saying the president “cowered behind his keyboard.”

“Today, the United States Capitol — the world’s greatest symbol of self-government — was ransacked while the leader of the free world cowered behind his keyboard — tweeting against his Vice President for fulfilling the duties of his oath to the Constitution,” Sasse said in a statement.

“Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the President’s addiction to constantly stoking division,” he continued.

Violence and broke out at the Capitol today after thousands of Trump supporters descended upon Capitol Hill opposing the Electoral College results.

House and Senate lawmakers had met in a joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College votes showing President-elect Joe Biden’s win, but some Republican senators led by Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Josh Hawley (Mo.), planned to challenge the results.

Sasse strongly criticized the efforts to oppose the results, calling it “dangerous.”

“Let’s be clear what is happening here: We have a bunch of ambitious politicians who think there’s a quick way to tap into the president’s populist base without doing any real, long-term damage,” Sasse wrote in an open letter to constituents last week.

“But they’re wrong — and this issue is bigger than anyone’s personal ambitions. Adults don’t point a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate self-government,” he added.

Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, tore into Trump over his response to the riots.

Cheney, who has frequently clashed with the president throughout his administration, said Trump is to blame for the mob due to his unsubstantiated claims of a “rigged” election, and she panned his response to the violence as “completely inadequate.”

“What he has done and what he has caused here is something that we’ve never seen before in our history. It’s been 245 years, and no president has ever failed to concede or agree to leave office after the Electoral College has voted, and I think what we are seeing today is the result of that, the result of convincing people that somehow Congress was going to overturn the results of this election, the results of suggesting that he wouldn’t leave office,” she said on NBC News.

“Those are very, very dangerous things, and he will be remembered, this will be part of his legacy, and it is a dangerous moment for the country.”

Cheney’s statement is among the sharpest Republican rebukes of Trump over the day’s chaos.

During some of the day’s tensest moments, officers were seen with their firearms drawn inside the House chamber, appearing to point them at demonstrators outside the door leading into the historic room.

Glass from the door was broken, and law enforcement barricaded the entrance.

Lawmakers were also seen being handed gas masks and calling their family members to tell them they were safe.

 

 

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The mob descended on the Capitol as Congress debated GOP objections to the Electoral College vote.

The challenges are virtually guaranteed to fail to block President-elect Joe Biden from being certified as the winner of the November election.

 

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