Biden: "Our democracy is under unprecedented assault"

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden said Wednesday that the country's democracy "is under an unprecedented assault," an "insurrection" that "borders on sedition, and it must end now," after hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump burst into Congress. "Our democracy is under unprecedented assault, something unlike anything we have seen in modern times. An assault on the Capitol, the seat of freedom, itself," Biden said in a statement to the press from Wilmington, Delaware.

Biden, who will take office on January 20, spoke about two hours after Trump's supporters forced their way into the Capitol and wreaked havoc, as well as engaging in confrontations with security forces.

"I will be very clear: the scenes of chaos on Capitol Hill do not reflect the real America, they do not represent what we are. What we are seeing is a small number of extremists dedicated to illegality," the president-elect stressed.
"This is not dissent, this is disorder, it is chaos, it borders on sedition, and it must end, now. I call on this mob to stand down and let the work of democracy go on," he added.

Biden stressed that "a president's words matter," and urged Trump to ask his supporters to stop the "insurrection" in Congress.
"I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath to defend the Constitution, and demand an end to this siege," he added.

Shortly thereafter, Trump posted a video on his official Twitter account in which he did something similar, although he insisted on his allegations without evidence of election fraud, which are what fueled the uprising of his followers.

"You have to go home now, we have to have peace; we have to have law and order," Trump told his followers, after insisting that the election was "fraudulent.

Biden later assured reporters that he was not "concerned" about his own safety or how the inauguration, scheduled for January 20, would go, because "the American people" will stop the insurrection and say "enough is enough.

"I am truly surprised and saddened that our country, which for so long has been the beacon of light and hope for democracy, has come to such a dark time," he said. "But we will prevail. The work of this moment and the next four years must be the restoration of democracy," he stressed, not without warning that the assault on Congress was "a reminder" that that democracy is "fragile.

The assault on Congress came as both houses were holding a session to corroborate Biden's election victory in last November's election.
Trump had urged his allies to interfere in that process and his vice president, Mike Pence, to arrogate to himself power not granted by the Constitution, and he harangued his supporters to keep fighting during a morning rally in Washington.

The president's supporters then headed to the Capitol and forced their way in.

Trump asks Capitol raiders to return home but insists on fraud

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on the protesters who gathered in Washington and violently stormed the Capitol to "return home in peace," but insisted that they were "robbed of an election" that they won "by a majority.

In a video posted on Twitter more than two hours after the assault on the Legislative building, Trump stated, "You have to go home now, we have to have peace. We have to have law and order (...) We don't want anyone hurt. It's a very difficult period.

"This was a fraudulent choice, but we can't play these people. We need peace, so go home. We love you, you are very special," the president said after President-elect Joe Biden, whose victory was to be ratified by Congress on Wednesday, appeared before the nation and called on Trump to immediately call for an end to the violence.

"I know they are hurt and wounded. They stole the election from us, an election we won by a majority. Everyone knows that, especially on the other side (the Democrats), but they have to go home now," Trump said.

The outgoing president reiterated his complaint of electoral fraud, despite the fact that there is no proof of it and that all states have certified their respective Electoral College members. "We don't want anyone to get hurt," said the outgoing president, who added: "You have seen how they treat us, in such a bad way. I know how you feel, but go home now.

Trump responded to the riots and the assault by hundreds of supporters on the Capitol, which forced the suspension of the certification session of Biden's election victory, a process that has been purely procedural until now, and the removal of the legislators and the vice president, Mike Pence, from the Capitol.

Under laws governing the U.S. electoral process, both houses of Congress were to meet in a joint session today to open and count the certificates of electoral votes for each state in the country.