Coach K: Wednesday at the Capitol Was "The Sorriest Day"

"It is who we are. We need to change who we are."

Normally, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski would have spent Wednesday preparing for that night’s game against Boston College. 

But Krzyzewski was home in quarantine for the week, which gave him the chance to watch the events in Washington, D.C., including the takeover of the Capitol Building.

He did not hold back his opinion about the historic event when asked during Saturday's postgame conference after Duke's 79-68 win over Wake Forest.

Here's his full statement:

“It was the sorriest day. I’m 73 years old. Outside of 9/11 and shootings at schools where kids have gotten shot and killed—by the way, I know everyone went under desks and that in the Capitol. I’d like to ask how many times teachers have had to do that at schools. Wednesday was a horrible day. It was an insurrection. It went to the very fabric of this great country, where the symbol for our democracy is that great Capitol. We allowed that symbol to be really just spit on and stepped on. It was a sorry day. 

"My prayers go out to the officer’s family who was killed from the Capitol Police. Just like my prayers go out to the 16,000 families that have lost loved ones in this last week. Are you kidding me? There’s 16,000. What the hell are we doing? What the hell are we doing where we can’t work as a country to come together and get these vaccines out? If someone’s doing something bad, Congress has the responsibility of stepping forward. 

"I’m not sure if you saw Colin Powell being interviewed on television—one of our great Americans. What he said was Congress needs to step forward and say, ‘You can’t do that.’ Where are our values? Our nation has been built on values. On values. It was a sorry, sorry day. Everyone who was involved—they should be prosecuted, and our leaders, our politicians who spoke up in support of that should be chastised. No question about it. And it’s not about being Republican or Democrat. It’s about being a damn American. Be Americans. Work together. Let’s get this thing back. 

"People will say, ‘That’s not who we are.’ That is who we are right now. It is who we are. We need to change who we are. We need to get back to basic principles that have founded this country. Being home and watching that, my West Point background, being in the Army and all that. I’m used to being on a team. Our country needs to be a team again.”