Business leaders and trade groups on Wednesday called for an end to the violence in Washington, DC and a peaceful transfer of power after supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol where lawmakers gathered to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
The responses came within a week of statements and meetings involving business leaders who have publicly pushed for a smooth transfer of power, while Trump and others have disputed his election defeat.
Chief executives, including the leaders of Google and Bank of America Corp. Alphabet Inc., condemned the violence.
“The uprising that followed the president’s comments today is appalling and an affront to the democratic values that we as Americans hold dear,” said Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Group Inc. Mr. Schwarzman, one of Mr. Trump’s closest allies on Wall Street and a major Republican fundraiser who acknowledged in November that Mr. Trump had lost the election, added, “There must be a peaceful transfer of power.”
James Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co., the country’s largest bank, said the violence does not represent the US. “Our elected leaders have a responsibility to call for an end to the violence, to accept the results and, as our democracy has done for hundreds of years, supports the peaceful transfer of power,” Mr Dimon said in a statement.