Biden says rioting at US Capitol ‘borders on sedition’ and calls on Trump to ‘demand an end to this siege’
President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday said the rioting at the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump “borders on sedition,” and called for Trump to immediately go on national television and demand a stop to the “siege.”
“The scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect a true America. Do not represent who we are. What we’re seeing are a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent, it’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition, and it must end now. I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward,” Biden said, speaking from Wilmington, Delaware.
The President-elect called on Trump to immediately go on national television “to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege.”
Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building earlier on Wednesday after the President urged his supporters to fight against the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes that confirmed Biden’s win.
“At this hour, our democracy’s under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times. An assault on the citadel of liberty, the Capitol itself,” Biden said.
The President-elect said, “Today’s a reminder, a painful one, that democracy is fragile and to preserve it requires people of goodwill, leaders with the courage to stand up, who are devoted not to the pursuit of power and personal interest at any cost, but to the common good.”
“Think what our children who are watching television are thinking,” Biden said. “Think of what the rest of the world is looking at.”
A woman is in critical condition after being shot in the chest inside the Capitol, according to Washington DC fire officials. Multiple officers have been injured and at least one has been transported to the hospital, multiple sources tell CNN.
The entire DC National Guard has been activated by the US Department of Defense, according to chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman, and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser implemented a 6 p.m. ET curfew.
Vice President Mike Pence, who was overseeing the vote on the Electoral College results, and members of Congress were evacuated.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
