The Sixth of January 2021 will be remembered by the world for a long time to come, but for all the wrong reasons. On this day, the US Capitol building in Washington DC was “breached” for the first time in over two hundred years by a rioting “mob” of US citizens, described by some as “domestic terrorists” and by others as “American Patriots”, and unbelievably at the incitement of the sitting 45th President of the United States himself. The last time such a major breach happened was on 24 August 1814, during the American War of Independence, when British forces under the command of Major General Robert Ross burned down the Capitol building, White House, and other buildings in the nation’s capital.
Donald Trump has consistently refused to concede defeat in the November 2020 Presidential election, and has systematically plied his huge body of fawning supporters with an unproven narrative of far-fetched conspiracy theories, rigged elections, and the unjust theft of his massive “landslide” victory. It is often the case that the constant and consistent repetition of a big lie can transform it into widely accepted fact, just as happened in Nazi Germany and is also happening now. It is, therefore, unsurprising that hordes of Trump’s “freedom-loving” supporters chose to descend upon the “swampland” of Washington DC to set matters right as they best saw, although at a rather late stage in the proceedings.
The Sixth of January is normally an unremarkable day in the US Presidential election calendar, when a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives is convened to formally count the Electoral College votes of the 50 States and Washington DC, and to debate any objections that may have been raised, before the President-elect’s election victory can be finally certified. On this occasion, having exhausted all sixty legal challenges to Joe Biden’s election in both federal and state courts, high hopes had been placed on the shoulders of seven (initially a dozen) US Senators and over a hundred Representatives, all Republicans and Trump acolytes, and especially on Vice-President Mike Pence, who was chairing the joint session of Congress, to annul the election result. The idea was then to either set up an electoral commission to investigate alleged fraud in the electoral process or to actually declare the election results invalid, necessitating a new election. One Trumpist had even suggested invoking martial law and taking over Congress to ensure that Donald Trump could stay on as the rightful President.
Trump had called for a “Save America” Rally and March in Washington DC, timed to coincide with the Congressional proceedings formally confirming the end of Trump’s presidency. A well-primed crowd of the usual sorts of people who have been filling Trump’s mega-rallies in recent years, obediently travelled to the nation’s capital for the occasion- from California, Florida, the Midwest, the deep South, and elsewhere. They brought with them the usual paraphernalia of Trumpism, including the Stars and Stripes, Trump flags, blue TRUMP 2020 posters, red MAGA hats, assorted helmets, and even the occasional Confederate battle flag. As expected, many chose not to wear facemasks, making it easier for law enforcement agencies to identify them at a later time. Judging by media interviews given by some members of this entourage, they were most dissatisfied with the “stolen election” and consequently determined to restore Trump to what they believed to be his rightful position, thereby ensuring that America remained “free” and was not taken over by “radical socialists” funded by the Chinese Communist Party.
On the appointed day, the marchers gathered at the Ellipse, a park to the south of the White House fence, to listen to such Trump sycophants as Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump Jr, before the great man himself spoke at noon. The energised and increasingly militant mob then assembled in front of the Capitol building, easily broke through the barricades after facing little opposition, and stormed into the hallowed precinct of the spiritual home of American democracy, doing something rather un-American, while simultaneously professing an intense patriotism for their homeland. Scuffles broke out, furniture was damaged, windows were broken, statues were defaced, artefacts were looted, papers were scattered around, and the Rotunda, halls, offices and Congressional chambers were invaded by the rampaging mob. An armamentarium of tear gas, pepper spray and flash grenades, and even pointed guns, was not enough to deter these most determined of warriors. It also didn’t help that the Capitol building’s defenders were vastly outnumbered by the rioters
By 2 20 pm ET (Eastern Time), the House and Senate were in recess, being finally reconvened at 8 00 pm. During the intervening period, and before the Capitol building was declared secure at 5 30 pm, a woman protester was shot dead by the Capitol Police, Congressional officials and lawmakers were escorted to safety, and the Capitol building went into lockdown. The Mayor of Washington DC enforced a 12-hour city-wide curfew, commencing at 6 00 pm, and the DC Police Chief classed the incident as a “riot”. The whole episode, viewed from afar courtesy of media footage, at best seemed like an amateurish attempt at a coup, without any obvious leadership, nor any clear objectives.
The scenes in Washington DC do not represent the beginning of the end, but rather the end of the beginning. Ever since the days of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party has taken a right-ward turn, taking it in a totally different direction from where it stood at the beginning of the 20th century. Along with this conservative/libertarian shift in policies of the GOP, a deeply divided political landscape has developed within America. In the past, both Democratic and Republican parties could be seen as broad churches and were more inclusive of diverse opinions, and bipartisan consensus was achievable on a number of key issues. Today, we have instead partisan agendas, a lack of willingness to compromise, and a consequent necessity to fill the legislature, the Cabinet and the courts with ideologically acceptable appointees. During his time as President, Trump has carved out his own ” ideology”, backed up by a thriving cult of Trumpism, which now not only threatens to divide the Republican Party but equally has the potential to survive outside the established two-party system as a disruptive influence, given the unwavering personal loyalties of so many Americans towards Donald Trump.
America may have once been considered as the leader of the free world. In recent years, that position has been seriously eroded, and further received a seismic jolt recently, on certification day. In a world bereft of competent and credible leadership, there may still be hope, as President-elect Joe Biden, with the aid of Democratic majorities, albeit slender, in the Senate and the House of Representatives, may finally truly help “Make America Great Again”, something his predecessor has failed so miserably to achieve.
Ashis Banerjee