WASHINGTON: Just four years after Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in a bid to overturn his election defeat, lawmakers are meeting on Monday to confirm his 2024 victory, handing Republicans The comeback has been fueled by political notoriety.
A powerful storm was predicted to blanket Washington in snow overnight, heightening the drama surrounding a joint session of Congress on January 6.
By almost any measure, Trump, 78, has made a remarkable return to power.
Four years ago, leaders of their own party seemed ready to turn their backs, but now they are quick to embrace their twice-impeached, criminally convicted leader.
After defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in November, a vindictive Trump will take office in two weeks, with the entire Republican Party — from the bottom to the last legislator — under his sway.
Monday’s ceremony could be awkward at best for Harris, who as vice president is mandated by the U.S. Constitution to preside over election certification.
The process then begins a two-week countdown to Trump’s inauguration on January 20, when he will begin a second term in a ceremony on the same Capitol steps that inspired his pro-American democracy four years ago. Had fought with the intention of doing.
While Monday’s certification is expected to go off smoothly, there is a sense of unease across the country.
A separate New Year’s Day suicide bombing in New Orleans by a self-inflicted, American-born Tesla Cybertruck outside Trump’s Las Vegas property capped a dangerous start to the year.
Meanwhile, the six-day funeral of late former President Jimmy Carter began this weekend and all American flags on government buildings will be at half-staff for a month — including during Trump’s inauguration.
Just in case of unrest, the authorities erected a perimeter of protective fencing around the Capitol.
For his part, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was more concerned about the coming blizzard, telling lawmakers not to leave Washington for the weekend, then find themselves stranded.
“Don’t leave town,” he told her Fox News “Whether we’re in a blizzard or not, we’re going into that chamber making sure it’s done,” he said on Sunday.
Uber-loyal Trump Republican Marjorie Taylor Green declared that she would run to the Capitol if she had to.
‘rearview mirror’
Congressional certification was largely considered a constitutional formality until January 6, 2021.
Then-President Trump broke all precedent with a concerted campaign of lies to convince Americans that the election was stolen and that he, not Joe Biden, was the real winner. Finally, he tried to pressure his Vice President, Mike Pence, to refuse to certify Biden’s victory.
In a fiery speech outside the White House early on Jan. 6, Trump called on supporters to “fight like hell.”
Thousands marched on Capitol Hill and attacked the bastion of American democracy. Attackers beat police with metal bars and flagpoles, smashed windows, sent lawmakers fleeing in panic, and chanted “Hang Mike Pence.”
Four people died that day – two from heart attacks, one from a possible overdose, and one rioter shot dead by police as he tried to force his way into the House chamber. After that, four policemen committed suicide.
Trump followed the shocking televised appearance from the White House, interjecting just hours later. Asian-facing lawmakers in Congress ultimately endorsed Biden’s victory.
But American memories of Jan. 6 appear to be fading, with most voters in the latest polls apparently not seeing it as an issue — and Trump continuing to insist he did nothing wrong.
“There is a relentless effort to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day,” Biden wrote in the Washington Post on Sunday. “We cannot allow the truth to be lost.”
New Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune echoed the attitude of nearly all of his party, telling CBS News: “You can’t look in the rearview mirror.”
Thune sidestepped the issue of Trump’s promise to pardon the rebels, saying the decision would rest with the president.
Aquilino Gonell, one of the police officers injured during the unrest, attacked Trump in Sunday’s New York Times.
“I sometimes wonder why I risked my life to protect my elected officials from Mr. Trump’s mob,” Gonell wrote, “only to see them come out stronger than ever.” back to power.”