Newly released footage from January 6, 2021, shows Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York scolding Trump administration officials for former President Trump’s refusal to order the National Guard to quell the storming of the Capitol.
Lawmakers took refuge in Fort McNair as rioters stormed the Capitol, with Schumer seen on video. It aired Monday on MSNBC.He yelled at then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy about the whereabouts of the National Guard.
“Washington has requested the National Guard and been denied by the Pentagon. I want to know the exact reason why it was denied,” Schumer said. “We need the National Guard immediately. Everybody has had to do this, but I’ve never seen anything like this. This is like a third world country. We had to run from the Capitol.”
Trump It has long been erroneously asserted that President Trump ordered the National Guard to Washington, and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Stopped himThe allegation was denied by sworn testimony from members of President Trump’s cabinet.
Later in the video, Schumer said he would plead the case for deploying the National Guard to then-Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller.
“Okay, I spoke with the secretary of the Army and he’s given full approval to send in the National Guard. He said he hasn’t done so yet,” Schumer said. “I’m going to call the secretary of defense.”
In another video, the majority leader grilled Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen about his actions that afternoon and urged him to urge President Trump to let the rioters go home.
“Why not have the president tell them to leave the Capitol? Attorney General, law enforcement. A public statement that they should all leave,” Schumer said. “He says in his tweets that we support peace and law and order. Right. Why not have him make that statement? Would you do that?”
MSNBC anchor Katie Tur said the network obtained the video from a “congressional source.”
The Hill has reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.
Trump’s actions on and around the day of Jan. 6 are at the center of a criminal investigation led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who has charged Trump with conspiring to defraud the United States and for inciting a mob plot to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) told Tarr that the video should serve as a “stark reminder” of the perilous day, even three and a half years later.
“This was an insurrection. It can only be classified as an attempt by a group of violent people to overturn a legitimate and lawful election,” Crow said. “They did so at the behest of Donald Trump. We cannot forget that.”
“I know there’s a lot of things that have people’s attention right now. People are raising families, building businesses, doing really important things across the country,” he continued, “but again, we can’t forget that there are moments in which our democracy is at risk. And we’re in one of those moments right now.”
