What to Know
- In an exclusive interview with NBC10’s Lauren Mayk, retiring Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey recounted the events leading up to and during the January 6 Capitol riot.
- Toomey said he wasn’t alarmed when Vice President Mike Pence left the Senate chamber because he hadn’t anticipated the Vice President would remain there for the entire proceeding, but an announcement from the sergeant at arms signaled something was seriously wrong.
- Toomey said he believes Trump was happy with what was happening at that time.
On January 6th, Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey says he watched then President Trump’s speech from his office but didn’t expect what happened next.
“I was shocked at the tone and the message and the things he was saying, but … it didn’t occur to me what was about to transpire,” Toomey said.
Toomey, who did not run for re-election and is planning to return to the private sector when his term ends, recounted his memories from that day in an interview with NBC10 at his Allentown office.
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Toomey said he wasn’t alarmed when Vice President Mike Pence left the Senate chamber because he hadn’t anticipated the Vice President would remain there for the entire proceeding, but an announcement from the sergeant at arms signaled something was seriously wrong.
“The sergeant at arms jumped up and shouted out that, close the doors, turn on, you know, all lights on, all doors locked, nobody goes in or out, you know, activity’s suspended here. And I realized, well that’s pretty serious. We’ve never seen that before,” he said.
Senators were later evacuated from the chamber into another room, he said.
Decision 2022
Coverage of the 2022 elections
“The President could have, I think he could have immediately called it off,” Toomey said. “He could have urged people to stop what they’re doing, evacuate the capitol, this is all wrong, and there was no such message from him and that, I think, contributed to the ongoing bedlam that we had.”
During that period, Toomey said he did not try to reach the President but witnessed calls between Trump and his Senate colleagues.
“He was calling colleagues of mine urging them to delay this any way you can,” he said. “It’s so outrageous what he did.”
Toomey said he believes Trump was happy with what was happening at that time.
“He thought that he still had a chance to persuade the legislatures of several states, including our state of Pennsylvania, to send a new slate of electors that would be all pro-Trump electors,” Toomey said. “And if he could delay the certification long enough he could get that new slate of electors in that would put him over the top and have him win the election.”
