Biden win certified, 4 dead as Trump supporters storm Capitol
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HOURS after hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in a harrowing assault on American democracy, a shaken Congress yesterday 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. On Wednesday, the Republican president had seemingly encouraged his followers to swarm the Capitol.
Congress resumed its work certifying Biden’s Electoral College win late in the evening after the chaotic scenes on Capitol Hill. After a debate stretching into the early hours of yesterday, the Senate and the House of Representatives rejected two objections to the tally and certified the final Electoral College vote with Biden receiving 306 votes and Trump 232 votes.
Vice President Mike Pence, in declaring the final vote totals, said this “shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and vice president of the United States.”
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take office alongside Biden.
The outcome of the certification proceedings had never been 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 woman from gunshot wounds and three from medical emergencies, and 52 people were arrested. Washington’s mayor instituted an evening curfew in an attempt to contain the violence.
Some besieged the House chamber while lawmakers were inside, banging on its doors and forcing suspension of the certification debate. Security officers piled furniture against the chamber’s door and drew their pistols before helping lawmakers and others escape.
Historians said it was the first time that the Capitol had been taken over since 1814 when the British burned it during the War of 1812. 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.
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.
He told supporters to pressure their elected officials to reject the results, urging them “to fight.”
He spent much of the afternoon in his private dining room off the Oval Office watching scenes of the violence on television. At the urging of his staff, he issued a pair of tweets and a taped video telling his supporters it was time to “go home in peace” — yet he still said he backed their cause.
Hours later, Twitter for the first time locked Trump’s account, demanded that he remove tweets excusing violence and threatened “permanent suspension.”
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who had long remained silent, called the invasion a “failed insurrection” and referred to those who had stormed the Capitol as “unhinged.”
In a hastily arranged address in Delaware, Biden said the activity of the rioters “borders on sedition.”
Several White House aides resigned in protest over the Capitol attack, including Matt Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser, and Stephanie Grisham, chief of staff to Melania Trump and a former White House press secretary.
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