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Just a day after senior asset management and other business executives signed a letter to Congress demanding that lawmakers certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, they watched in horror at the extremists. pro-Trump, some armed, stage an insurgency on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in an unprecedented attack on American democracy.
Shocking footage of the attack unfolded on television, showing rioters smashing windows and stepping through them into the Capitol building. Shots rang out on the Capitol grounds, a woman was reportedly shot in the chest. She later died, according to a Washington post report. Several police officers were injured in the melee, according to CNN reports.
Members of Congress were believed to have spent the day certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, won by Democrat Joe Biden. President Donald Trump has been claiming for months that the results of the presidential election were fraudulent – the United States Supreme Court has twice refused to hear lawsuits to overturn the November 3 election. Vice President Mike Pence had said earlier that he would not block certification of Biden’s victory.
The normally pedestrian certification process was already promising to be different this time around, after a group of Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz, said in a Jan.2 statement that they planned to reject election votes from some states. unless Congress creates a commission to investigate baseless allegations of electoral fraud.
But the day took an explosive turn shortly after 2:00 p.m., when demonstrators entered the Capitol building. Institutional investor On Wednesday, reporters reached out to industry leaders to find out their reaction to the chaos. Here is what they said.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the violence on our Capitol Hill today,” said Larry Fink, President and CEO of BlackRock, in a statement to Institutional investor. “This is an attack on our nation, our democracy and the will of the American people. The peaceful transfer of power is the foundation of our democracy. We are who we are as a nation by virtue of our democratic institutions and processes. “
David McCormick, CEO of Bridgewater Associates and former Under Secretary of the Treasury to President George W. Bush, said II: “I watch the violence in the nation’s capital with disgust and sorrow. The storming of Capitol Hill today is seditious and an attack on our dearest national principles. Since George Washington stepped down in 1797, the peaceful transfer of power has been a hallmark of our republic and a symbol of our freedom under the law. Today’s events show how vulnerable this sacred tradition is.
He continued, “Abraham Lincoln once observed that if we commit to preserving the great American experience,” all efforts will be in vain, and all attempts unsuccessful, to overthrow our national freedom. ” We all have a responsibility to ensure that this remains true. We all have a responsibility to forge a better nation, to respect and uphold the law, and to preserve and renew the bonds that unite us. This duty, not only for our public servants, but for all Americans, occupies an important place today. “
Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon took an equally grim tone in his statement to II. “For years, our democracy has built a reservoir of goodwill around the world that brings significant benefits to our citizens. Recently, we have wasted that goodwill at an alarming rate, and today’s attack on the US Capitol is doing further damage, ”he said. “It is time for all Americans to come together and move forward with a peaceful transition of power. We need to start reinvesting in our democracy and rebuilding the institutions that have made America a great nation.
George Walker, Chairman and CEO of Neuberger Berman, said II: “Like the other CEOs, I have been doing everything we can for months to demand a smooth transition of power. Today’s events are heartbreaking but unfortunately not surprising. “
PIMCO CEO Emmanuel Roman and group chief investment officer Dan Ivascyn said in a statement to II, “We are disturbed and saddened by the images of today’s events on Capitol Hill, which are an attack on our institutions and the democratic values that guide us. However, we are also confident that the strength of these institutions and the goodwill of our elected leaders will ensure that the nation makes its legal transition to a new leadership. “
Jamie Dimon, President and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said, “I strongly condemn the violence in our nation’s capital. It is not who we are as a people or a country. We are better than that. Our elected leaders have a responsibility to call for an end to violence, to accept the results and, as our democracy has done for hundreds of years, to support the peaceful transition of power. The time has come to come together to strengthen our exceptional union.
Michael Corbat, CEO of Citi, said in a statement to II: “I am disgusted by the actions of those who stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification of the Electoral College, a process mandated by our Constitution as part of our practice of peaceful transitions of power between presidents . As one of America’s oldest companies, we have seen our country experience other trying events. Although these scenes are very difficult to watch, I have faith in our democratic process and I know that the important work of Congress will continue and that people will be held accountable for their actions. I pray that this situation can be resolved without further bloodshed.
Carlyle Group CEO Kewsong Lee also condemned the attack. “I condemn the chaos and illegal behavior we are witnessing today in the capital of our nation,” he said in a statement. “It is deeply disturbing after the controversial and bitter electoral process which put enormous pressure on us all. Our country is better than that and deserves better than that. Today it was a constructive and peaceful presidential transition, and we must move on to repairing the damage inflicted on our social fabric and on our democracy. In such a polarized and divisive world, we must ground ourselves in the basic premise that we have much more in common than not, and in the simple truth that we must be respectful of each other, even if we do not share them. same views. “
Cliff Asness, co-founder and CIO of AQR Capital Management, was forthright when contacted by II: “The president inciting this is scandalous and the protesters must stop or be arrested.”
Muddy Waters Capital Management founder Carson Block, a more colorful, though less influential asset manager, offered the most unequivocal assessment of the day’s events.
“I am not surprised to see that this resulted in violence,” he said. II. “He’s obviously been fed hard in recent days by the former president [National Security Adviser] Mike Flynn, then [Trump lawyer Rudy] Guiliani calls for a trial by combat at the DC rally. I’m sure it’s far from the end of the kind of violence and turmoil we’re going to see in this country if we don’t get this right-wing authoritarianism that is really taking off … It’s just disgusting. —— people. “
—Michelle Celarier, Christine Idzelis, Kip McDaniel, Alicia McElhaney, Julie Segal and Amy Whyte contributed to this reporting.
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