In Storming the Capitol, Trump's Most Extreme Supporters Did Significant Damage to Their Cause
If the aim of those who stormed the U.S. Capitol yesterday was to change the outcome of the presidential election and somehow perpetuate President Trump in power, they obviously failed spectacularly. After the mayhem subsided, Senators and Representatives returned to the legislative chambers and certified the electoral votes, confirming Joe Biden as president-elect of the United States. What were already destined to be fruitless pro forma objections to certain states' slates of electors became even more so, as Republican Senators were wary of having their legitimate procedural moves conflated with the day's lawless resistance. Anger and frustration with the President and his most zealous supporters boiled over even among his staunchest allies, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Mike Pence. The day's events reinforced the commitment, even among the strongest Republican partisans on Capitol Hill, to affirm the legitimacy of incoming President Biden and see to a smooth and peaceful transfer of power. Ironically, far from having somehow managed to secure a second term, Trump today finds himself fighting just to stave off formal removal from office (via impeachment or 25th amendment action) in the last two weeks of his presidency.
