Beshear delays State of the Commonwealth speech as violence breaks out in D.C.
Gov. Andy Beshear postponed his State of the Commonwealth address Wednesday after a mob of pro-Trump supporters forcefully entered the United States Capitol and disrupted the certification of the 2020 Presidential Election.
“This has been a day of deplorable acts of violence,” said Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown. He said Beshear requested that the speech be delayed 24 hours.
Beshear had been set to deliver his proposed budget to lawmakers during a 7 p.m. speech.
“Based on the events at our nation’s Capitol, the Senate President, Speaker of the House and I have jointly agreed to delay the joint session for the State of the Commonwealth and the Budget address to 7 p.m. tomorrow,” Beshear said in a written statement. “We all recognize the gravity of this situation.”
Earlier Wednesday, Beshear denounced the mob in D.C., calling them “domestic terrorists.” He asked all elected officials to condemn what he called a “direct attack on America.”
“If you’ve been standing up and riling up militia leaders across this commonwealth and across this country, shame on you,” Beshear said. “There is blame there for you. We’ve got to be better.”
Reporters in the U.S. Capitol shared pictures of protesters breaking windows and storming into the Capitol as members were told to put on gas masks and evacuate. Earlier, President Donald Trump had made a speech urging his supporters to go to the Capitol to make their voices heard.
President-elect Joe Biden called on Trump to tell the mob to go home and Trump later Tweeted a video, falsely claiming the election was stolen and asking the people at the Capitol to go home.
“Go home,” Trump said. “We love you. You’re very special.”
Earlier Wednesday, a small group of people gathered outside the Kentucky Capitol to protest the certification of Biden’s election, but they had dispersed by Wednesday evening.
Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, quickly condemned the violence in Washington D.C. after Thayer announced Beshear’s speech was postponed.
“From what I’ve seen it should never have taken place and it is tragic,” Stivers said.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 5:16 PM.
