Who is Andy Kim? New Jersey congressman praised for spending hours picking trash off Capitol floor after riots
When pro-Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol building following POTUS’s refusal to concede the election, U.S Representative Democrat Andy Kim was reportedly in a separate federal building, unaware of the impact of the riots. However, when he did see the room that he “loves” so much damaged and ruined from the violent protests, he took it upon himself to clean it up.
In one of the pictures of the Capitol building after the riots, Kim is seen picking up the debris and garbage off its floor. According to NBC News, the congressman nearly spent an hour and a half filling “a half dozen trash bags”. And, after finishing the cleaning of the House floor, he went on to clear the National Statuary Hall and the Capitol crypt downstairs.
Talking about the emotions that rushed through him after seeing the condition of the Capitol building, he said, “I was just overwhelmed with emotion. It’s a room that I love so much — it’s the heart of the Capitol, literally the heart of this country. It pained me so much to see it in this kind of condition.”
Even though his gesture is being heaped with praise on social media, Kim revealed his thoughts about his service to Congress. He said, “I feel blessed to have this opportunity as a son of immigrants to be able to serve in Congress. Democracy to me is this place of opportunity that is affording me a chance to do something extraordinary.”
Who is Andy Kim?
Kim became the first Asian American to represent New Jersey in Congress in 2018. He is the first member of Congress of Koren descent in the Democratic Party. He served as the national security aide under Presidents Geroge W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Despite the differences among the people of the country, especially following the presidential election, Kim believes there’s still hope and cites his own experience as an example.
He said, “I represent a district where the vast majority of people do not look like me. But they’ve voted for me twice now to be their representative, and that’s a beautiful thing. There are others who seek to make me seem like an 'other' whether it’s because of skin color, or gender, or sexuality. But that’s not what this is about. We’re all Americans.” He was born in Boston to Korean immigrant parents and raised in New Jersey.
Kim has served in Afghanistan as a civilian adviser to Generals David Petraeus and John R. Allen before taking up the position of national security adviser. However, despite the experience from his service, Kim said he was terrified to see the rioters storm Capitol. Recollecting the horrific moment he said, “I’ve spent a lot of time in Afghanistan and Iraq, I’ve been in war zones where I’ve had to shelter in place, but I never would have imagined that this would happen here,” he said, noting that he didn’t know at the time whether the rioters were armed. “It was a terrifying experience.”