The time for partisan plays is over': Former Mitt Romney 2012 Policy Adviser

Lanhee Chen, Hoover Institution Fellow and Former Mitt Romney 2012 Policy Adviser joined Yahoo Finance Live to break down how the recent pro-Trump riots will influence how other countries will see America going forward.

Video Transcript

LANHEE CHEN: It's never something I thought I'd see. I mean, some of the places that have been breached-- you know, I've spent a lot of time in and around the Senate chamber, for example. That's a very heavily fortified area. There's usually a very difficult process to get in there. You have to get through some screening, you have to report why you're there to the US Capitol Police.

To see the facility overrun, to see the violence, to see the defacing of some of the most important buildings in Washington is beyond discouraging, it's sad. And people around the world who watch American democracy look at this, and they think, is this what America has become? Is this what it's come to? And to think that the President of the United States was the one who essentially encouraged people to go to the Capitol and do this, to me is beyond angering.

It is-- well, it's just-- it's sad. And there's not a whole lot more to say aside from the fact that I hope they get this under control. Law enforcement's on the way. They're going to have additional fortifications soon. There'll be a curfew in Washington, DC imposed. But what an awful day-- a black eye for democracy.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Well, Lanhee, actually, the Manufacturing Association-- the Manufacturer's Association has put out a statement. I want to read you the quote from this, because they say, quote, "the outgoing president incited violence in an attempt to retain power. And any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favor of anarchy."

So let me ask you-- I mean, Mitt Romney has been vocal against what we are witnessing now. But Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, several members of the House of Representatives-- are they culpable and should they be criminally prosecuted?

LANHEE CHEN: Well, two things. First of all, Mitch McConnell this morning, before all this started, gave what I thought was one of the most important speeches of his career-- his long career in the Senate-- when he basically said, this is nonsense the kinds of objections we're hearing. And I think that is something that other Republicans need to echo.

I think those who have had objections need to, frankly, put those aside now. The time for partisan plays is over. It's time to come together as a country. And the only way to do that is to accept the results of the election, to reinforce the importance of the peaceful transition of power, and to reject any notion that there is any acceptable outcome other than that.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Lanhee, we've got to interrupt you right now.