A former US Republican party member living in Carlow says the violence in Washington on Wednesday was like a coup attempt in a third world country.
Carlow College lecturer Eric Derr says he was horrified by the actions of the Trump supporters invading the Capitol building and Congress to stop the certification of Joe Biden at the next US president.
He says there’s no other way to view the attempts to overturn the result of a democratic election.
“Something has to be done to lower the temperature, to hold people accountable and to try and reform” said Mr Derr.
“You know you are looking at the guardrails of democracy being pushed to the limits, the checks and balances haven’t worked, but it is a delicate balancing act that I think more steps need to be taken in”.
Meanwhile Donald Trump says people involved in riots at the US Capitol building ‘do not represent’ America.
He’s condemned the violence on Wednesday which left five people dead – including a police officer who died from his injuries overnight.
The US President’s promising an orderly handover of power to Joe Biden, who’ll be sworn-in in 12 days’ time.
But senior Democrats want to remove Mr Trump from the White House immediately.
Nancy Pelosi is one of them.
She said “The gleeful desecration of the US capital, which is the temple of our American democracy, and the violence targeting congress, are horrors that will forever stain our nations history”.
