But current and former politicians from both major parties condemned the breach of the Capitol, with Democrats and many Republicans blaming Trump and his allies for inciting the mob through their repeated claims of a stolen election.

The Democrat Biden said of the attack on the Capitol: "It's not protest; it's insurrection." And he urged the president to "go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege."

"History will rightly remember today's violence at the Capitol, incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of great dishonor and shame for our nation," former President Barack Obama said in a statement. "But we'd be kidding ourselves if we treated it as a total surprise. For two months now, a political party and its accompanying media ecosystem has too often been unwilling to tell their followers the truth — that this was not a particularly close election and that President-Elect Biden will be inaugurated on January 20."

Former President George W. Bush, a Republican, said he was "appalled" by the actions of some political leaders since the election and called the "mayhem" at the Capitol "a sickening and heartbreaking sight."

"This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic — not our democratic republic," Bush wrote in a statement released Wednesday evening.

"The President bears responsibility for today's events by promoting the unfounded conspiracy theories that have led to this point," Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said in a statement. "It is past time to accept the will of American voters and to allow our nation to move forward."

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, a frequent critic of Trump, described the breach of the U.S. Capitol as "an insurrection, incited by the president of the United States."

Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, in a statement described the Capitol as being "ransacked while the leader of the free world cowered behind his keyboard."

He continued: "Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the President's addiction to constantly stoking division."

Other Republicans who pledged to object to electoral vote slates refrained from implicating Trump, focusing instead on quelling the violence of his supporters.

"Those storming the Capitol need to stop NOW," Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas wrote on Twitter. "The Constitution protects peaceful protest, but violence—from Left or Right— is ALWAYS wrong. And those engaged in violence are hurting the cause they say they support."

"You did not win"

Despite the violent breach, Congress resumed its session Wednesday night.

"To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win," Vice President Pence, in his role as president of the Senate, said as he gaveled the proceedings back in. "Violence never wins, freedom wins. And this is still the people's house."

Earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wrote in a letter to members that the "shameful assault" on democracy wouldn't "deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden."

The attack on the Capitol convinced some GOP senators, including Steve Daines of Montana and Mike Braun of Indiana, to withdraw their objections to electoral votes.

Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who just lost her reelection bid, said she will no longer object to the state's results.

"The events that have transpired today have forced me to reconsider and I cannot now in good conscious object to the certification of these electors," she said.

Earlier Wednesday, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., wrote on Twitter that the Electoral College ballots had been "rescued from the Senate floor. If our capable floor staff hadn't grabbed them, they would have been burned by the mob."

NPR's Deirdre Walsh, Kelsey Snell and Brian Mann contributed to this report.

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