Sen. Tom Cotton says that Trump should 'repudiate mob violence' and tells Republicans who are challenging the election to 'withdraw those objections'

• Sen. Tom Cotton on Wednesday went after the far-right protesters who breached the US Capitol and said that President Donald Trump needed to acknowledge his election loss.
• "Today, insurrectionists occupied our Capitol," he said in a statement. "Those who attacked the Capitol today should face the full extent of federal law."
• Cotton, a likely 2024 GOP presidential contender, stood out in his opposition to contesting the presidential election, which ran counter to conservatives like Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas.

Sen. Tom Cotton on Wednesday went after the far-right mobs who breached the US Capitol and said that President Donald Trump needed to acknowledge his election loss.

The Arkansas Republican, generally a staunch ally of the president, opposed challenging the Electoral College certification of President-elect Joe Biden's win before the chaos that took place at the Capitol. He came down on those who broke into and damaged the historic building, calling for their prosecution.

"Today, insurrectionists occupied our Capitol," he said in a statement. "Those who attacked the Capitol today should face the full extent of federal law."

He added: "It's past time for the president to accept the results of the election, quit misleading the American people, and repudiate mob violence. The senators and representatives who fanned the flames by encouraging the president and leading their supporters to believe that their objections could reverse the election results should withdraw those objections."

Biden received 306 Electoral College votes to Trump's 232 electoral votes, and a joint session of Congress was set to certify the election results during the afternoon of Jan 6. Once it became too dangerous to proceed, Vice President Mike Pence and many lawmakers were moved to an undisclosed location.

Cotton, a likely 2024 presidential contender, stood out in his opposition to contesting the presidential election among conservatives including Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, who both led the Senate GOP effort to contest the election and that's almost certain to fail.

In his reasoning on Jan. 3, Cotton said that his opposition to Trump's efforts to overturn the election were rooted in the Constitution.

"The Founders entrusted our elections chiefly to the states - not Congress," he wrote. "They entrusted the election of our president to the people, acting through the Electoral College - not Congress. And they entrusted the adjudication of election disputes to the courts - not Congress. Under the Constitution and federal law, Congress's power is limited to counting electoral votes submitted by the states."