Paula Lugones
01/07/2021 18:05
Clarín.com
World
Updated 01/07/2021 18:05
After an unprecedented and dramatic day in the history of the United States, the institutions that for a moment were in distress worked and sealed
the end of the Trump era
at dawn this Thursday
.
At 3.40 in Washington (5.40 in Argentina), Congress confirmed the victory of Democrat Joe Biden, hours after the session had been suspended because the legislators had to escape after the building was attacked by a mob of violent supporters of the outgoing president.
The chaos left four dead, in one of the "darkest" days for American democracy.
Donald Trump then gave in to pressure from the Republican Party and said in a statement Thursday morning for the first time that there will be an "orderly transition" and admitted that his administration will come to an end, although he continued to denounce that there was fraud in the elections that Biden won with more than 80 million votes.
Trump did so after
a cataract of resignations by officials
in his environment and several legislators calling for his removal, arguing incapacity and incitement to violence.
The session scheduled to certify the Democrat's victory at the polls - a procedure that is usually a formality that goes unnoticed - turned into chaos on Wednesday afternoon, after hundreds of Trump supporters invaded the building, smashed windows, jumped bars and got into the legislators' offices, with Confederate flags, in
a serious assault on democracy
that was denounced as a coup and even an act of terrorism.
Biden called Wednesday's session one of the "darkest" days in US history.
“It was not disorder.
It was not a protest.
Let's not call them protesters.
They were a mob of rioters, insurgents, domestic terrorists, "he said about the taking of the Capitol.
The violent ones proclaimed that Biden had won by fraud and that Trump's elections had been stolen, a story that the president has been spreading since November, without proof, and that has been proven in court to be false.
Democrat Joe Biden will assume the presidency of the United States on January 20.
Photo: AP
The riots led to the suspension of the meeting, the subsequent deployment of the National Guard, the installation of a
curfew in
and around
Washington
.
After those hours of unprecedented tension, the legislators returned to the compound that had been razed, in a show of firmness, and complied with what the Constitution mandates.
An irreversible step
At 3:40, Vice President Mike Pence declared the winner, despite the fact that days before his boss had asked him to support a rebellion in Congress to ask for an audit in some states and try at least to hinder (it was impossible for him to succeed) the certification of Biden.
But Pence told him that such a move was impossible and moved forward after the riots with the confirmation of Biden, whose victory had been endorsed by the Electoral College weeks earlier.
After the irreversible step in the early morning, Trump issued a statement from the Twitter account of an official (he had his blocked for inciting violence) in which he continued to protest the result but,
for the first time, committed to a transition of powers "ordered" on January 20.
That day Biden will take formal possession of his position and will launch a government that will have strong political support and wide room for maneuver, since
the Democrats, in addition to controlling the House of Representatives, will also dominate the Senate,
after the results of Tuesday's elections in Georgia.
Condemnation of the Republican Party
The Republican party, which for a long time withstood the attacks on the institutions by the president, this time closed ranks in favor of the Constitution, especially after the riots.
"We are going to finish exactly what we have started and certify the winner of the 2020 presidential election, criminal behavior will never dominate the United States Congress," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
He called the revolt a
“failed insurrection”
and proudly proclaimed: “The United States and this Congress have faced threats far greater than the unhinged mob of today.
They haven't deterred us before and they won't now.
They have tried to break our democracy and they have failed ”.
Donald Trump insists on an alleged fraud, although he admitted that he will leave the White House on January 20.
Photo: AP
Vice Pence, who had been evacuated from the building by security forces during the riots, strongly and promptly condemned the violence, unlike Trump, who waited several hours for the images inside Parliament to become a degrading postcard.
When the session reopened, Pence told the violent: "You have not won, violence never wins, freedom wins."
More Republicans condemned the events.
"What has happened here is an insurrection incited by the president of the United States," denounced Republican Senator Mitt Romney from Utah.
Former President George Bush warned: "This is how elections are discussed in a banana republic, not in our democratic republic," he said in a statement.
Pressures on Trump
The pressures on Trump are increasing and
the voices calling for his removal are growing
.
The leader of the Senate Democrats, Chuck Schumer, called on Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to immediately remove President Trump, saying that if he does not act, Congress must impeach the president.
"What happened yesterday in the United States Capitol was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president," Schumer said in a statement.
"This president should not hold office for another day," he added.
"If the vice president and the cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress must meet again to impeach the president," he remarked.
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, also asked Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, which provides that the vice and most members of the cabinet can put in writing to Congress that the president does not have the ability to continue in office.
The vice president has so far shown no signs of taking this controversial step.
Washington, correspondent
CB
Look also
Attack on Capitol: the Republican Party, an accomplice of Trump, now seeks to recalibrate
Attack on the Capitol: what does the Confederate flag used by Trump supporters represent