Many thought it would end badly. But no one, not even the most daring, came to imagine the decline of the presidency Donald Trump ait would become perhaps the darkest chapter of American democracy.
This Wednesday, the world witnessed in horror as a mob of his supporters, encouraged by the incendiary rhetoric of the president just minutes earlier, the Capitol was taken by force to try to prevent lawmakers from certifying the Democrat’s triumph Joe Biden en the last election.
It was more than four hours of chaos and anarchy that left five dead and the country mired in a political crisis with little background. An event that was described by both Democrats and Republicans as an act of domestic terrorism that led to the insurgency.
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And no wonder. The mob, made up largely of far-right groups, destroyed doors and windows, beat up police, raided congressional offices to steal documents and computers, desecrated monuments. and even tried to replace the American flag waving on the Capitol with one of ‘Trump 2020’.
Lawmakers, who feared for their lives, had to set up barricades to protect themselves while Vice President Mike Pence was evacuated, that also it was in the enclosure and was looked for by trumpists who wanted to make it “pay” to be against the feverish designs of their leader.
According to Trump, the vice president had to turn down Biden’s certification, declare himself the winner, and give him the keys to the White House for four more years.
The worst thing, if that is possible, is that even with Congress under siege and at risk the lives of hundreds of people, the president (according to White House sources himself) refused to authorize the sending of reinforcements.
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Before, they said, he seemed to enjoy the images and only began to change his mind under the threat of officials and the military. In fact, it is already known that who gave the order to reclaim the Capitol was Pence and not Trump.
In his first statements, when the situation was still critical, the president he justified the actions of his supporters and called them “patriots.” A term also used by his daughter Ivanka to describe the rebels who were trying to stage a coup.
A few minutes later, asked them to withdraw from the Capitol peacefully, but not without first saying that he “loved” them and that they were “very special people.”
Although these statements were later withdrawn from their social media and from the White House portal, they were probably the ones that ended up sealing their fate.
Trump was somehow already on the loose after last weekend’s outrageous call, when he asked Georgia’s secretary of state to commit fraud to declare himself the winner even though the his defeat had already been more than corroborated, and his political capital decimated after the debacle suffered by Republicans on Tuesday in that same state, where they lost control of the Senate in large part due to their erratic conduct.
Protests at the Washington Capitol.
But his role in the Congress takeover (and what he said at the time) was destroyed in less than 24 hours andThe card castle he built on the verge of bullying and intimidation during his four years in office.
Once calm returned, lawmakers resumed the session and certified Biden’s victory with Pence at the helm. And although some insisted on objecting to the results in a couple of states, the tone changed completely.
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Congressmen like Lindsey Graham, who throughout the presidency defended him in cloak and sword, suddenly turned their backs on him and denied what was already known, but had refused to admit: that the elections were transparent and the allegations of fraud were unsupported.
Officials, former officials, business leaders and former presidents went on the run against Trump, whom they hold directly responsible for the events.
“We were told that more than 6,000 prisoners had voted, that 15,000 minors had done so. I asked them to show me 10 cases and none showed upGraham said. Something surprising came from a lawmaker who weeks earlier had called on the Georgia secretary of state to ask him to make votes to give Trump the victory. Mitch McConnell, the president of Senate and hitherto unconditional ally of the President, Categorized the allegations as mere unsupported conspiracy theories.
On Thursday morning, the president tried to calm the mood by committing to an orderly transition of power, but insisting he had won the election.
But his statement was far from enough. As the hours went by, officials, former officials, business leaders and former presidents went on the run against Trump, to whom they are directly responsible for the events. Several, including Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, resigned in protest.
And voices began to be demanded calling for his removal or resignation. The Wall Street Journal, one of the most prestigious conservative media in the country, he asked her to step aside for the good of the country. And so did the Washington Post and others.
Democratic congressional leaders (backed by some Republicans) announced the filing of new dismissal charges against the president, while inside the administration the invocation of amendment 25 was discussed of the Constitution, which allows the cabinet to remove a president if more than half consider that he is not in a position to govern.
Former Attorney General William Barr; former Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly; former Secretary of Defense General James Mattis and many of his most loyal servants also joined.
“The assault on the Capitol, an effort to subjugate American democracy through a mob, was promoted by Trump. His use of the presidency to destroy our confidence in the elections and poison the respect we owe to fellow citizens was facilitated by political quasi-leaders whose names will live on in infamy for his cowardice, “Mattis said in a violent statement that highlighted the many Republicans who facilitated Trump’s conduct throughout that period.
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, the president’s favorite means of communicating with his supporters, blocked Trump from his social media. An unprecedented punishment in the history of these companies.
According to multiple sources, the pressure reached such a point that Trump was put against the wall by his closest circle of advisers, including his daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and chief of staff Mark Meadows.
According to them, if the president did not denounce as soon as possible and in energetic terms what had happened in the Capitol, he would be dismissed without delay. Even more delicate, both he and his entire circle were exposed to the opening of a criminal trial that could send them to prison.
On Thursday night, the president released a video in which he declared outraged by the violence against the Capitol and he finally agreed to lose the election and leave power on January 20th.
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He pledged, moreover, to an orderly and delayed transition of power, and distanced himself from the same sympathizers whom he had called special people hours before.
“Those who participated in these acts of violence do not represent us and those who violated the law will pay for it,” Trump said after warning that the time had come to heal and reconcile.
But many saw in his words a desperate attempt to save his presidency and not an admission of guilt or self-reflection. Trump himself gave the reason to these critics on Friday by stating that he does not plan to attend Biden’s inauguration.
“There is no doubt that the US would be much better off if Trump resigns or is removed from power. The president has chosen to spread the flames of hatred and lie to millions of voters with conspiracy theories before accepting the reality of his own defeat, “said Larry Hogan, Republican governor of Maryland, shortly after.
The prospects of a dismissal, either by way of Congress or by invoking Amendment 25, did not seem very viable given the few days left to his presidency (only 10). And they were seen, rather, as a kind of threat to prevent further Trump outbursts in the final stretch of his presidency.
But the mere fact that he is considering a second political trial against it or a removal orchestrated by his own cabinet makes it clear that the president will come out the back door.
Several of his supporters believe, in fact, that this could be the end of his political career. “Trump, with that, lost half of the Republican Party and I doubt many would want him as his representative in the 2024 election.” The chaotic end of the Trump administration, said Brit Hume, the leading political analyst at Fox.
However, others think that Trumpism will survive for a few more years, but not without first causing a deep rift within the Republican Party., Which has already begun to emerge.
What they all agree on is that this week’s embarrassing incident is a stain that can never be erased, not only from American history, but from Trump’s highly controversial legacy.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
EL TEMPS correspondent
Washington
On Twitter: @ sergom68