Sec of State Blinken Says Capitol Riots Hurt US’ Ability to Speak With a ‘Strong Voice for Democracy’

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 hurt the United States’ ability to speak with a “strong voice for democracy” abroad.

Wolf Blitzer questioned Blinken on China, Israel, and many other significant issues facing the State Department, before bringing up the military coup in Myanmar.

The CNN anchor asked, “How does the U.S., though, speak with authority on democracy when people around the world saw our Capitol attacked and our democratic institutions pushed to the brink?”

Blinken said, “There’s no doubt that our ability to speak with that strong voice for democracy and human rights took a hit with what happened on January 6th, what happened at the Capitol.”

He went on to say he “sees the glass at half full” and talked about how Congress did its job “to ensure that we had a peaceful transition of power” after the rioting.

“What’s made us different is our willingness, our ability to confront these challenges with full transparency. In front of the entire world. And that’s very unlike other countries, when they face challenges, they try to sweep everything under the rug, ignore it, repress it, push it back. We’re doing this all out in the open,” he added.

You can watch above, via CNN.