In this image from video, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., speaks as the House reconvenes to debate the objection to confirm the Electoral College vote from Arizona, after protesters stormed into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6. (House Television via AP)

Rep. Elise Stefanik was just about to speak on the House floor as Trump supporters besieged the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

She was about to object to certifying electoral results in four states when the Capitol was overrun.

“I was actually on deck to give my speech, so I was seated towards the center of the chamber,” Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, said Thursday morning.

It was about 2:15 p.m., and she was preparing to object to the electoral votes from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan, over how each state handled the presidential election.

But she noticed something was wrong when Speaker of the House Nancy P. Pelosi, D-Calif. and other leaders were rushed out of the chamber.

“The way she was removed was not normal,” she said, “and then Steve Scalise, who is minority whip, was seated behind me, and he was removed from the chamber, so it was very clear that something was not right.”

The mob was in the building, overrunning the Capitol Police, but she and others in the chamber didn’t know that. Debate continued for a few minutes until Capitol Police returned to the chamber and locked the doors.

She stood to speak, and a colleague told her to take shelter. Hide behind the seats, she was told.

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Gas masks

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“The next announcement was that we had gas masks under our seats, which I didn’t even know that’s where the gas masks are, and we were told to take out the gas masks and that there had been tear gas released in Statuary Hall,” she said. “You could also start to hear very concerning sounds, they started barricading the doors. It was very, very scary.”

Stefanik and her colleagues were locked into the House chamber until Capitol Police led them out, through the tunnels that connect the Capitol with the surrounding legislative office buildings.

She stuck with Republican Rep. Lee M. Zeldin, who represents New York’s 1st Congressional District, as they made their way back to the Rayburn office building.

“As we were in the tunnel, getting out, that’s when the shots were fired — that I later found out from a Capitol Police officer running, hearing on the radio, that shots were fired at the Capitol,” she said. “It had just been prior that there were members in the House chamber.”

None of Stefanik’s staff was hurt. She found them all in her office.

“As I’m describing it now, looking back, it didn’t really settle down until about 4 p.m., and it was still a very uncertain time, we were told to stay locked in our offices,” she said.

Congress reconvened after 8 p.m. with debate over Arizona’s electoral votes resuming in each chamber.

In her speech, shortly after the House resumed, Stefanik thanked the Capitol Police for protecting the Capitol during the mob invasion.

Those who broke into the Capitol are “violent criminals” who should be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she said, noting the Capitol Police saved lives.

Stefanik said her perspective was different than what viewers saw on television.

“We were locked in the chamber,” she said. “Some of the footage that people saw tuning into network television was very different than the vantage point I had. From my vantage point, there was a lot of confusion.”

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Trump blamed

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Democratic congressional leadership blamed President Trump for inciting the violence. He hosted a rally near the White House before the riot, pushing claims the election was fraudulent and telling protesters to march to the Capitol.

“We are going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women,” Trump said. “And we are probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them, because you will never take back our country with weakness.”

Members on both sides of the aisle have condemned Trump’s actions, saying he did not do enough to stop the mob violence.

“I think the president has to be much clearer with the American people that he condemns any form of violence,” Stefanik said. “I do also think it’s important to note that the violent perpetrators and the mob that sieged the Capitol is not representative of the vast majority of people that were in Washington, D.C.”

Her constituents participated in constitutionally protected protests, she said.

“What is not a constitutional right is committing violent acts, which is what we saw yesterday by the individuals that breached the Hill,” she said.

The election was eventually certified in President-elect Joe Biden’s favor.

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Election objections

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Back in session, Stefanik and other House GOP members carried on with their objections to electoral votes of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan.

“Tens of millions of Americans are concerned that the 2020 election features unconstitutional overreach by unelected state officials and judges ignoring state election laws,” she said after debate resumed. “We can and we should peacefully and respectfully discuss these concerns.”

It was important to continue the debate, she said, despite the riot, which led to the deaths of five people.

“One of the greatest ways we can condemn the violence is to have a peaceful debate or discussion, which is what we had,” she said. “I stand by my decision to object.”

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Previous objections

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Democrats have objected to Republican presidential electors. In 2005, after President George W. Bush was reelected, both a senator and a representative objected to Ohio’s electoral votes, leading to a two-hour debate. Then, 31 members of the House, and one member of the Senate, voted to reject Ohio’s electoral votes. The measure failed, and Ohio’s votes were counted.

“In the case of last night, there were really only two states where senators and House members had both objected, that was Arizona and Pennsylvania, so I voted according to my announcement,” she said.

Stefanik said she would like to see a bipartisan commission prepare best practices for states to officiate elections.

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Calls for Trump’s removal

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While Democratic leadership has called for Trump to be removed from office in the wake of the Capitol siege, Stefanik disagrees.

Her spokesperson said the congresswoman is “vehemently opposed.”

Stefanik said she will continue her appearances on national television, citing the popularity of national outlets with her constituents.

“The amount of feedback I get directly from constituents who are watching Fox, or they watch local news too, you have to reach people where they are, and there’s a lot of viewers in my district who really liked to see those updates,” she said.

Stefanik said she has always worked with her North Country constituency first and will continue to do so.