Chris Coons Says Republicans Must Repent Before There Can Be Unity

Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said Tuesday that Republicans must repent before there can be unity.

Coons said on CNN’s “New Day With Alisyn Camerota and John Berman” that he “believes in the possibility of reconciliation” in reference to whether collaborating with Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley is a part of unity.

“A lot of my faith heroes and heroes in service are people like John Lewis who were able to be reconciled to those who opposed them at times even violently,” Coons said. “But part of my understanding of how we should conduct ourselves in this world is that true reconciliation only comes after repentance”

He continued, “I’m looking to see whether my colleagues reflect on the chaos and violence of last Wednesday and take any responsibility for it.”

Cruz and Hawley were among 13 Senate and several House Republicans who objected to the Electoral College’s certification of the presidential election results. A mob breached the Capitol building on Jan. 6 after a march turned into a deadly riot against the results’ certification.

“I have found a way, John, to work across the aisle even with Republicans I sharply disagreed with,” Coons said.

“But I thought last Wednesday’s actions and those who stoked it and those who led up to it, like President Trump, were unprecedented in the modern era in the United States, and there has to be accountability for those actions.”

The House voted on Jan. 13 to impeach Trump again, charging him with a single article of “incitement of insurrection.” The vote was 232-197 and 10 Republicans favored impeachment.

Coons’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.