WASHINGTON, DC — After the Senate voted 57-43 to acquit Donald Trump, Congressman Mondaire Jones (D-NY) released the following statement:

“Today is a dark day for our nation. I’m outraged, but not surprised, that Senate Republicans once again chose fascism and narrow political self-interest over the health of our democracy and the physical safety of their colleagues in government. Donald Trump incited a deadly, violent insurrection against the United States government and by refusing to hold him accountable and prevent him from ever running for office again, Senate Republicans are allowing him to commit further harm.

This dark chapter in our nation’s history has made painfully clear the need for structural reforms to our broken democracy. The insurrectionists tried to take our government by force on January 6th, and they failed. But they’re not finished. Their Republican allies in state houses across the country are already trying to reinstall minority rule by suppressing Black and brown votes. What happened on January 6th started with the myth of voter fraud — a myth that Republicans are using to lay the foundation for another decade of voter suppression targeted at people of color, working people, and young people. If we want to defeat the Republican Senators who voted to acquit — if we want a government that is truly for the people — we must pass H.R. 1 and fight back against the continuing assault on our democracy.”