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Wisconsin's Congressional Delegation, Present And Past, Weighs In On Insurrection At U.S. Capitol

Win McNamee
/
Getty Images
A member of the mob who breached the US Capitol Building holds a Trump flag near the Senate Chamber on Jan. 6 in Washington, DC.

The mob of Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday brought out strong reactions from across the world. Part of that reaction came from current and past members of Wisconsin's Congressional delegation.

Rep. Ron Kind (D - LaCrosse) held an online news conference from his Capitol Hill office.

"I'm here, I'm working, I'm not ceding any ground to anyone. I refuse to surrender the United States Capitol to anyone,” he said.

Rep. Mark Pocan (D - Madison) released a video of him talking and called it a sad day for America. He said President Donald Trump had “incited domestic terrorism” by urging his supporters to go to the Capitol.

Rep. Gwen Moore (D - Milwaukee) tweeted after a woman had been shot in the Capitol and laid the blame on Trump. 

Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin called Trump's actions “disgraceful.”

Among Republicans, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R - Green Bay) was the most outspoken. He issued a video calling the mob at the Capitol ‘’banana republic crap.” He later told the PBS NewsHour that the Trump supporters were misled about what could occur during the Congressional certification of the Electoral College results.

"We trafficked in the fiction that somehow January 6 was going to change the outcome of the presidential election. And even the objectors would admit behind closed doors that that was not going to happen,” he said.

One of the GOP lawmakers who had supported a review of the election results, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson,issued a late night statement in which he said the “lawless protestors” led to consensus to expedite the Congressional discussion. Johnson joined more than 90 other Senators in voting no to objecting to the election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. 

Baldwin voted no, as expected.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was a Democratic House member in the 1990s. He said between now and when Trump leaves office January 20, the Wisconsin Congressional delegation and state lawmakers face a choice: "Are you on the side of the insurrection, or are you on the side of the peaceful transfer of power in our democracy?" He added that politicians can't play around anymore.

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