By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - The U.S. Capitol went into lockdown on Wednesday and Vice President Mark Pence was shifted to a secure location after pro-Trump demonstrators forced their way into Congress, disrupting the election certification process.
President Trump called on his supporters to stay peaceful amid reports of an armed standoff between law enforcement and rioters.
But the president's call for calm comes just moments before he urged supporters to protest the confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Trump continues to call the November election result a fraud, and just days ago was recorded telling Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffenspergertop to "find" enough votes to overturn the election result in Georgia.
Some of Trump's fellow Republicans have been quick to blame the president for the turn of events on the Hill. “This is what the president has caused today, this insurrection,” Republican Senator Mitt Romney told the New York Times.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pressed the president to order demonstrators to leave the Capitol. "We are calling on President Trump to demand that all protestors leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol Grounds immediately.”
Political tensions are running high on Wednesday as Democrats are closing on a victory in the Georgian election runoffs that will give them control of the Senate.
Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock unseated Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler in one of the Georgia runoff elections, while Democrat Jon Ossoff is reportedly in the lead against Republican David Perdue.
A victory in both races would see the Democrats match the 50 seats the Republics hold in the Senate. But Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will have the tie-breaking vote, paving the way for Democrats to carry out their legislative agenda amid control of both chambers of Congress and the White House.