Rep. Kim, ‘really affffffffffffected,’ helped clean up Capitol
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N. J., cleans up debris and personal belongings strewnacross the of the Rotunda in the earlymorning hours Thursday after protesters stormed the Capitol inWashington onWednesday.
Water bottles, clothing, Trump flflags, even a U.S. flflag litteredthe groundinside the U.S. Capitol after amobbacking PresidentDonaldTrump ransacked the building.
New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim walked amid the mess shortly after voting to certify Joe Biden’s victory over Trump — and felt the weight of the day wearing on him— when something motivated him to clean up the debris.
“I was just really affffffffffffected emotionally. I felt this kind ofheightened, kindof supercharged kind of patriotism that I just felt take over,” he said.
It was then he noticed police offifficers putting pizza boxes in trash bags, so he askedforone, too, andbegan cleaning up.
“When you see something you love that’s broken you want to fifix it. I love the Capitol. I’m honored to be there,” he said. “This building is extraordinary and the rotunda in particular is just awe-inspiring. How many countless generations have been inspired in that room?
“It really broke my heart and I just felt compelled to do something.… What else could I do?”
TheimageofKimcrouched down clearing away litter bookended a violent, historic day that saw an angry mob smash through police lines, break windows and wrench open doors as they sieged the building, not long after Trump said at a rally they should show“strength” and fifight against Congress’ certifification of Biden’s win.
Kim, a second-term Democrat from a district Trump won twice, wasn’t looking for publicity, according to one colleague who came upon him and didn’t recognize him at fifirst.
“I think it was 1 in the morning,” said fellow New JerseyDemocratic Rep. Tom Malinowski. “There were a coupleNational Guardsman and I noticed somebody on his hands and knees leaning under a bench to pick something up and it was Andy all by himself, just quietly removing debris and putting it in a plastic bag. He was clearly not doing it for an audience.
“It was for me the most poignant moment of the long night.”
NewJersey Gov. PhilMurphy saidKim“represents the very best of NewJersey and our nation.”
Tom MacArthur, the formerGOPrepresentative from New Jersey who Kim beat in a close race in 2018, was heartened by his successor’s action. It was MacArthur who had helped shepherd the GOP effffffffffffort to repeal the Affffffffffffordable CareAct through the House and who stood alongside Trump and others at the White House to celebrate, though the effffffffffffort failed. Kimran in part on the popularityofBarackObama’s signature health care law.