White House social secretary Rickie Niceta has resigned, effective immediately, CNN reports.
White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews also resigned, Fox News reports.
A source close to President Trump tells the New York Times that more resignations are expected in the next 24 hours.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) called on President Trump to concede his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden, saying he should “quit misleading” the American people, The Hill reports.
Said Cotton: “It’s past time for the president to accept the results of the election, quit misleading the American people, and repudiate mob violence.”
Earlier for members: Tom Cotton Has Learned Trump’s Loyalty Lesson
From a Washington Post editorial:
“President Trump’s refusal to accept his election defeat and his relentless incitement of his supporters led Wednesday to the unthinkable: an assault on the U.S. Capitol by a violent mob that overwhelmed police and drove Congress from its chambers as it was debating the counting of electoral votes.”
“Responsibility for this act of sedition lies squarely with the president, who has shown that his continued tenure in office poses a grave threat to U.S. democracy. He should be removed.”
You're reading the free version of Political Wire
Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.
“Newly sworn-in Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) was under intense criticism from fellow lawmakers and others on Wednesday over comments she made during a speech in Washington, D.C., in which she invoked Adolf Hitler,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Said Miller, on video: “If we win a few elections, we’re still going to be losing unless we win the hearts and minds of our children. This is the battle. Hitler was right on one thing. He said, ‘Whoever has the youth has the future.'”
From a Kansas City Star editorial:
“No one other than President Donald Trump himself is more responsible for Wednesday’s coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol than one Joshua David Hawley, the 41-year-old junior senator from Missouri, who put out a fundraising appeal while the siege was underway…”
“Among those Hawley got to emulate him was Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, whose very first act as a member of the world’s greatest deliberative body was to sell out his country by attempting to overturn the outcome of a legitimate election.”
“Republican senators are hopeful that they’ve convinced their colleagues to drop their plan to challenge additional Electoral College results from Georgia and Pennsylvania,” The Hill reports.
Said Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): “There’s gonna be probably 30 or 40 more minutes of debate, and one vote. I just don’t think there’s going to be another objection. I think it’s over at that point.”
“A newly-elected member of West Virginia’s House of Delegates was among the mob who stormed the U.S. Capitol today,” West Virginia Metro News reports.
“Derrick Evans (R) livestreamed and then deleted videos from inside the Capitol, but others took screenshots and videos of the original videos.”
One video shows him in the Capitol interior while surging through a door. He says, “We’re in! We’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!”
“Stephanie Grisham, the former White House communications director and press secretary and current chief of staff for first lady Melania Trump, submitted her resignation Wednesday afternoon, effective immediately, in the wake of the violent protests,” CNN reports.
David Frum: “As so often with Trump, he has indicated the plan in advance: Use the Insurrection Act to somehow interfere with the transition of power. He could try it this very day.”
“In institutional self-defense, Trump must be impeached again and this time removed. That needs to happen immediately, before he can declare martial law, so that Vice President Mike Pence can oversee the constitutional transition of power, the first time since the Civil War that such a transition can no longer be described as ‘peaceful.'”
President Trump sent a tweet at around 6 p.m. in which he reiterated the false claim that the election was stolen and encouraged his supporters to “remember this day” going forward, the New York Times reports.
Said Trump: “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”
Twitter later took down the tweet, saying that it had violated the company’s rules.
A source close to President Trump told CNN the president is “out of his mind” and that his election defeat is “all he can talk about, all he can think about. It’s all-consuming.”
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) reversed herself in a statement and says she has now decided she will vote to uphold the Electoral College results.
She’s also called on President Trump to condemn and “put an end to this madness.”
“Republican lawmakers are pressing the Trump loyalists in their party to abandon their objections to President-elect Joe Biden’s win as lawmakers huddle in an undisclosed location Wednesday afternoon to wait out the siege of the Capitol,” the Washington Post reports.
“The intervention from Republicans is focused on the GOP lawmakers who have been spearheading the electoral college challenges, including Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ted Cruz (R-TX).
New York Times: “Defense and administration officials said it was Vice President Mike Pence, not President Trump, who approved the order to deploy the D.C. National Guard. It was unclear why the president, who incited the protesters to storm the Capitol and who is still the commander in chief, did not give the order.”
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) issued a statement:
“We gather today due to a selfish man’s injured pride and the outrage of his supporters whom he has deliberately misinformed for the past two months and stirred to action this very morning. What happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the President of the United States. Those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate, democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy. They will be remembered for their role in this shameful episode in American history. That will be their legacy.”
New York Times: “The sergeant-at-arms, the top security official at the Capitol, announced that the building had been secured around 5:40 p.m., but it remained unclear when lawmakers would be able to return.”
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) blamed President Trump for the riots and violence at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, The Hill reports.
Said Sasse: “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.”
He added: “Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the President’s addiction to constantly stoking division.”
Senior Democratic and Republican lawmakers are discussing reconvening the joint session to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory later tonight in an attempt to show that Congress will not yield to rioters.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.