Florida US Congressmen move forward after Capitol riot

Members of U.S. Congress were working toward a peaceful transfer of power Thursday after an assault on the U.S. Capitol the day before.

Rioters carrying MAGA signs stormed the Capitol after President Donald Trump urged his supporters to march to the Capitol Building, where lawmakers were in the process of confirming President-Elect Joe Biden.

We spoke to lawmakers who remained in Washington D.C. after the riot, and they are positive about the future.

“I was on the floor when the floor was evacuated,” said Rep. Byron Donalds (R) of Florida U.S. House District 19. “It was a very scary time and a surreal time.”

Donalds said a lesson was learned.

“When the Capitol was being breached, we were all trying to get to safety,” Donalds said. “We’re all trying to take care of each other.”

To Southwest Florida, Donalds said the country will move forward.

“Joe Biden is going to be inaugurated as president of the United Sates; that is clear,” he said.

Donalds is also among congressmen who moved forward with the decision to contest the Electoral College vote.

“The acts of a mob, in my view, should not change the decision you made before you stepped into the chamber,” Donalds explained.

He said Trump should move forward for two more weeks.

“I think that going down this line using the 25th Amendment is actually the wrong move,” Donalds said. “The 25th Amendment was designed for the complete and utter incapacitation of the president.”

Rep. Greg Steube of Florida U.S. House District 17 said he did not want to comment about the 25th Amendment Wednesday night when we spoke to him after he avoided harm at the Capitol.

Steube also objected the Electoral College vote.

“There’s plenty of opportunity for debate and the process to go through,” Steube said. “That’s what I think I’m certainly focused on, and I think what the American people should be focused on and again.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio (R) did not object the certification of the Electoral College that confirms a Biden victory—though Sen. Rick Scott (R) did—as he said that’s what causes a further divide.

“It’s a terrible idea at this moment,” Rubio said at the Capitol. “Just hours ago, a young lady died in this Capitol.”

Rubio, instead, offered advice about how to move forward.

“America is your family. America is your faith. America is your community. That’s America,” Rubio said at the Capitol. “That’s what our adversaries don’t understand, and that’s what we need to remember. That is how we are going to rebuild this country and turn the page and have a future even brighter than our past. And so that’s why I feel so strongly about this. And why I hope those who disagree with me will understand. I yield the floor.”