Four people die during the chaos, 52 arrested * Chaos unfolded after Trump addressed supporters and told them to march on the Capitol to express their anger at lawmakers
WASHINGTON: Hours after hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in a harrowing assault on American democracy, a shaken Congress on Thursday formally certified Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
Immediately afterward, the White House released a statement from Trump in which he pledged an “orderly transition” when Biden is sworn into office on January 20, although he repeated his false claim that he won the November election. Just the previous day, the Republican president had seemingly incited a mob to swarm the Capitol seeking to overturn the election result.
The destructive and shocking images at the Capitol of what other Republicans called an “insurrection” filled television screens in America and around the world, a deep stain on Trump’s presidency and legacy as his tenure nears its end.
In certifying Biden’s win, longtime Trump allies such as Vice-President Mike Pence and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell ignored his pleas for intervention, while the violence at the Capitol spurred several White House aides to quit.
A source familiar with the situation said there have been discussions among some Cabinet members and Trump allies about invoking the 25th Amendment, which would allow a majority of the Cabinet to declare Trump unable to perform his duties, making Pence the acting president. A second source familiar with the effort doubted it would go anywhere given Trump has less than two weeks left in office.
After the chaos on Capitol Hill, Congress resumed its work late on Wednesday certifying Biden’s Electoral College win — normally a formality but which included efforts by some Republican lawmakers to stall the process. As the sometimes tense debate stretched into the early hours of Thursday, the Senate and the House of Representatives rejected two objections to the tally and certified the final Electoral College count with Biden receiving 306 votes and Trump 232 votes.
McConnell, who had long remained silent while Trump sought to overturn the election results, chastised the Republican lawmakers for their efforts to stall certification. He later called the invasion a “failed insurrection” and referred to those who had stormed the Capitol as “unhinged.”
“They tried to disrupt our democracy,” he said on the Senate floor of the protesters. “They failed.”
The outcome of the certification proceedings was never in doubt, but was interrupted by rioters who forced their way past metal security barricades, broke windows and scaled walls to fight their way into the Capitol.
Police said four people died during the chaos — one from gunshot wounds and three from medical emergencies — and 52 people were arrested.
Some besieged the House chamber while lawmakers were inside, banging on its doors. Security officers piled furniture against the chamber’s door and drew their pistols before helping lawmakers and others escape.
The assault on the Capitol was the culmination of months of divisive and escalating rhetoric around the November 3 election, with Trump repeatedly making false claims that the vote was rigged and urging his supporters to help him overturn his loss.
Following Thursday’s certification by Congress, he issued a statement via White House aide Dan Scavino, saying: “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th.”
Biden was also bolstered by dual Democratic wins in the outstanding Georgia US Senate races, which will give his party control of both the Senate and the House in the new Congress.
‘INCITED THE MOB’
Wednesday’s chaos unfolded after Trump — who before the election refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost — addressed thousands of supporters near the White House and told them to march on the Capitol to express their anger at lawmakers. “to fight.” Some prominent Republicans in Congress squarely blamed Trump for the violence.
“There is no question that the President formed the mob, the President incited the mob, the President addressed the mob. He lit the flame,” House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney said on Twitter. — Reuters
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