Hoyer Statement Marking Five Years After the Attack on the U.S. Capitol

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) released the following statement to mark five years after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021:

“On January 6, 2021, Donald Trump revealed himself for who he is: a demagogue, a wannabe dictator, a man with no loyalty to our democracy and our Constitution. He told a mob of his supporters to ‘stop the steal’ and ‘fight like hell.’ There was no steal. But they did fight like hell.

“In an effort to overturn the outcome of a free and fair election, the insurrectionists wounded some 140 of our brave U.S. Capitol Police, two of whom were killed. They paraded the Confederate flag through the Capitol – something the Confederacy itself never achieved even in the most dire hours of the Civil War. They hunted for Vice President Pence and Speaker Pelosi, hoping to hang them from gallows they erected on the National Mall. Trump did nothing to stop the violence.

“I am deeply grateful to law enforcement and the National Guard for their efforts to protect the Capitol and restore order that day. But the struggle for our democracy did not end that night. It continues five years later, as Trump attempts to distort our memory of January 6. He has granted clemency to all who assaulted the Capitol – some 1,600 insurrectionists, including 600 charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement. He has called January 6 a ‘day of love,’ while the GOP has defined it as ‘legitimate political discourse.’

“If we fail to remember January 6 for what it was – a day of treason, sedition, and violence – then we invite further attacks on our democracy and on our people.”