Only in today’s hyper-toxic political environment could the events of January 6th, 2020 occur. While over 100 Congressional Republicans, 10+ Senators, and the President objected to the valid results of the 2020 election, Americans who supported the President and everything he said became indoctrinated into his false premises. Let me repeat myself- Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the next President and Vice President of the United States. They won by substantial margins in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia. When questions arose as to the validity of the ballots cast, Team Trump used their legal rights and objected in court. They lost – a lot. To date over 60 petitions had been filed in courts across the country with a grand total of 0 resulting in a change of vote count. The legal process should have and did end there. What came afterward has been nothing short of despicable, egregious, and dangerous. Refusing to admit defeat, the President and his cronies began peddling misinformation- that the election was rigged (it wasn’t), or that Hugo Chavez (a deceased Dictator of Venezuela) had conspired with voting machines among other lies. With these lies repeated over and over again, one by one people who voted for the President felt disenfranchised and angry- and wanted action.
With Congress meeting to certify the Electoral College vote on January 6th, the President and his loyalists saw this moment as one last chance to attempt to overturn the election, a tactic completely unconstitutional and dangerous. His calls to overturn the election reverberated throughout the party, with cynical Senators such as Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) joining the President in his claims in an attempt to win over his base of support. Leading up to today’s Joint Session of Congress, was a scheduled rally of protesters to try and convince their congress members to “object” to the results of the 2020 election. This goal became realized when President Trump joined the protesters and spoke in front of Capitol Hill this morning, further fanning the flames of hatred towards those willing to uphold the rule of law.
Emboldened by their President and members of Congress trying to score political gains, many protesters stormed the capital, breaking through barricades and smashing windows, forcing a shutdown and evacuation of the buildings. Amidst the chaos and dysfunction, the most radical (relatively speaking) of the group broke into the Senate chamber, rushing the majority member’s chair and jumping from the scaffolding. Where was the President during this moment of domestic terrorism? Tweeting. The tweets and videos have since been taken down due to the risk of instigating more violence, with one of them criticizing VP Pence for refusing to object. All while people overcame Capital Police and lay siege on our Capital.
Never before in the history of our nation have we had a President or major candidate for the nation’s highest office refuse to concede an election. Never before have we had domestic terrorists lay siege upon our nation’s Capital. Today is truly a sad, despicable day.
The Hilltopper 