‘To give us a reference on the damage done on the Hill, the US Capitol Historical Society said it was the most serious attack on the iconic building since the British Army burned it in 1814.’
UNITED States President Donald Trump, the poor loser that he is, suffered some more cuts in what remains of his goodwill and reputation, with the way he handled the rowdy, violence-marred demonstration yesterday at the Capitol building, where presidential election winner Joe Biden was to be proclaimed.
In what Biden described as both an insurrection and sedition, hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in a bid to overturn his election defeat. The news accounts said they perpetrated mayhem and chaos inside and outside the icon of American democracy, and police evacuated lawmakers and struggled for more than three hours to clear the building of protesters, using even police munition. The mob broke down windows and rummaged through offices, spraying chemical irritants to attack the police who had to use tear gas in their defense.
A sad result of this insane display of freedom of expression and assembly is the death of a woman who was shot during the mayhem. Three others died because of medical emergencies, according to police. To give us a reference on the damage done on the Hill, the US Capitol Historical Society said it was the most serious attack on the iconic building since the British Army burned it in 1814.
As was his usual ways, Donald Trump had used the social media — Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — to encourage his supporters to do what they did, calling them “special” and “loved” in several posts, but urging them to “go home” in another.
We had to agree with Facebook and Twitter on this one, as they deemed it prudent to remove several of Trump’s tweets. Twitter said the president’s account would be locked for 12 hours and if the offending tweets were not removed, it would remain locked. Facebook and YouTube also took down the videos posted by Trump, citing an emergency situation.
“We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence,” said Guy Rosen, Facebook vice president for integrity.
The rapidly condescending former President George W. Bush, a Republican, could not mention Trump by name but said his piece anyway: “This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic — not our democratic republic. I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election.”
Not only Bush, but many world leaders, feel the same. They were hurt last November when Trump chose not to participate in a virtual G-20 session on global response efforts to the coronavirus pandemic, even as COVID-19 cases surged and broke daily records in the US. To add insult to the event, Trump played golf in his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia while world leaders were trying to unravel the virus.
Trump inflicted an irreparable damage on himself and on the American people, unfortunately when it was time for him to go.
