Pompeo made the remarks on his personal Twitter account on Thursday. He had not tweeted about the events on January 6 from that account but had made a statement on the secretary of state’s official account. It did not mention Trump.

“In the wake of yesterday’s reprehensible attack on the U.S. Capitol, many prominent people – including journalists and politicians – have likened the United States to a banana republic,” Pompeo wrote.

“The slander reveals a faulty understanding of banana republics and of democracy in America.

“In a banana republic, mob violence determines the exercise of power. In the United States, law enforcement officials quash mob violence so that the people’s representatives can exercise power in accordance with the rule of law and constitutional government.”

“Congress’s completing its certification of electors — with our law enforcement heroes having restored order in the Capitol — at 3:40 AM today shows the strength of American political institutions and represents a victory for the rule of law & constitutional government in America,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo’s tweets did not mention Trump, who has been blamed for inciting the riot by members of both parties amid growing calls for him to resign, be removed via the 25th Amendment, or impeached.

Two of Pompeo’s cabinet colleagues have already announced their resignation in the wake of the event, which left five people dead including Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick.

Education secretary Betsy DeVos and transportation secretary Elaine Chao both tendered their resignations on Thursday. In her resignation letter, DeVos clearly linked Trump to the riot.

“There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me,” DeVos wrote. “Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are learning from us.”

Chao’s resignation statement said she was “deeply troubled” by the “entirely avoidable” incident at the Capitol that interrupted the final stage of the 2020 presidential election.

A number of countries targeted by the U.S. for regime change took the opportunity to mock and criticize the nation in the wake of the riot. These countries included Cuba, Bolivia, Iran and Venezuela.

“Venezuela condemns the political polarization and the spiral of violence that does nothing but reflect the deep crisis that the United States political and social system is currently undergoing,” the Venezuelan government said in statement.