The website of the American diplomacy caused a stir on social networks by briefly publishing Monday a biography of the outgoing president with this comment: "
The mandate of Donald J. Trump ended on 01/11/2021 at 7:49 pm
".
The Republican billionaire, defeated in the November presidential election, in fact remains in office until January 20, the day of the inauguration of his Democratic successor Joe Biden.
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Either nine days later than written on the State Department website.
But following his supporters' assault on Capitol Hill last week, calls for resignation have multiplied, sometimes even from elected Republicans, while Democrats have taken legislative action to try to impeach Donald Trump. .
The State Department website also briefly announced the end of Vice President Mike Pence's term.
Monday in the middle of the afternoon, a message invoking "
technical difficulties
" appeared on the pages in question.
Asked by AFP, the State Department did not provide an explanation.
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According to the Buzzfeed site, which quotes two diplomats on condition of anonymity, it was a "
disgruntled employee
" who made the change on the biographies of President Trump and Vice President Pence, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded the opening of an internal investigation to identify the perpetrator.