Mitt Romney: U.S. Capitol Riot Was ‘an Insurrection Against the Constitution’

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) called the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol an “insurrection against the Constitution,” while other Republicans downplayed the riot’s significance.

Romney’s comments came as several Republicans, including Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and Rep. Jody Hice Norman (R-GA), minimized the violence or made false claims about the attack.

Clyde said during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing Wednesday that calling what took place on January 6 “an insurrection” was “a boldface lie.”

Romney told HuffPost Thursday that the mob attack resulted in several deaths, severe injuries, and severe property damage.

“I was there,” Romney said. “What happened was a violent effort to interfere with and prevent the constitutional order of installing a new president.”

“As such, it was an insurrection against the Constitution that resulted in severe property damage, severe injuries, and death,” he added.

Romney was one of several Republican senators who voted to convict former President Donald Trump on a charge of inciting an insurrection.

Several of the senators who voted to convict Trump have been censured in their home states by local Republican groups. The Weber County GOP in Utah most recently censured Romney.