US Congress formally certified Joe Biden as the next President of the United States on Thursday. Following this, Trump immediately released a statement pledging an “orderly transition” but suggesting he would remain in frontline politics, amid speculation that he may run again in 2024.
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” Trump said in a statement posted to Twitter by his social media director Dan Scavino just before 4 am on 7 January. “I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again,” he added.
The certification came hours after a mob breached the US Capitol and sent lawmakers scrambling for safety. They were able to return hours later, shaken but determined to complete the task.
Security forces fired teargas in a four-hour operation to clear the Capitol. Police said that at least four people were killed and 52 others arrested in the wake of the violent protests that took place inside the US Capitol in Washington D.C.
Addressing the media, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee confirmed that a woman was shot and killed, while the three others died after apparently suffering “separate medical emergencies” near the Capitol grounds, Xinhua news agency reported. There were no other details on the victims.
Following the unprecedented violence, a spate of White House resignations has begun. Stephanie Grisham, the First Lady’s chief of staff, and Deputy National Security Adviser Matt Pottinger have quit. White House Social Secretary Rickie Niceta and Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews have also resigned, according to reports.
Calls for Trump’s removal are growing louder too.
Meanwhile, Biden called the violence an “insurrection” and demanded that Trump immediately go on national television to tell the rioters to stand down. “Our democracy’s under unprecedented assault,” Biden said in his home state of Delaware.
“This is not dissent. It’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition. And it must end now.”
Trump soon afterward released a video in which he called on the mob to leave but repeated his unfounded claims of election fraud. “We have to have peace. So go home. We love you—you’re very special,” he said.
The chaos at the Capitol came a day after Biden enjoyed a new triumph, with his Democrats projected to win two Senate seats in runoffs in Georgia—handing the party full control of Congress.
Amid all this, Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts have been blocked indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks after his supporters stormed the US Capitol on Thursday.
“The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Thursday.
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete,” Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook page.
Twitter has also removed several tweets by Trump that repeated his numerous false claims about fraud and other impropriety in the election he lost to Joe Biden.