After the U.S. Capitol was attacked by a pro-Trump mob on January 6, 2021, disrupting the counting of the electoral votes and the formalization of Biden's victory, Noem spoke out against the violence, saying, "We are all entitled to peacefully protest. Violence is not a part of that." One day after calling for peace and reconciliation in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol, Noem described two newly elected Democratic senators from Georgia, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, as "communists" in an op-ed in "The Federalist", a conservative online publication. South Dakota Democrats criticized Noem's claim.