Moulton: Insurrection At U.S. Capitol Is 'Direct Assault From Within'

Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton is calling on lawmakers to do what they can to remove President Trump from office, as supporters of the president stormed the U.S. Capitol.

He spoke to WBUR All Things Considered Host Lisa Mullins while on lockdown in his D.C. office, as a mob of pro-Trump extremists occupied the building.

On what he's seeing at the Capitol:

"This is the kind of violence, this is the kind of terrorism that I expected to see in Iraq as a United States Marine, not here in Washington, D.C., not an attempted coup on our own country. That's what's going on right now in the U.S. Capitol.

"The situation is very dangerous because what few Capitol police are available have to be concentrated on the places where protesters have already breached the building. And so the potential for this to get further out of hand is very real."

He calls this an attempted coup:

"These are people inspired and supported by the president and his allies who are trying to overturn the election results. That's what a coup is. And it's something that we expect to see in former Soviet republics. It's something that we expect to see in banana republics around the globe. It's not something we expect to see here in the United States of America. Even during the Civil War, this didn't happen. That's how dangerous Trump and his allies are for the United States of America, for our country, for our democracy, for our institutions. All of those things are under assault right now."

His text message to a Republican colleague who is contesting the election results:

"I said, 'With all due respect, the utter lawlessness outside the capital, which reminds me of Iraq or a Soviet satellite state, is what you and your colleagues' actions inside the Capitol are inspiring and supporting. How can you say this is good for the future of our democracy?'

"I have not heard back."

On how he sees this ending: 

"This will end with the government of the United States prevailing, with our democracy prevailing. We're going to be OK. We're going to pull through this. But I'm not sure that our country, at least since the Civil War, has ever been in a more precarious position, has ever been under more direct assault from within."