President Donald Trump clearly inspired today’s rioting and violence at the United States Capitol Building. It is violence that resulted in armed confrontation in the Capitol and the spilling of blood on the Capitol grounds. Five lives were lost and others injured. This all played out during a constitutional session in which a presidential election was being certified. The President bears full responsibility for these shocking developments. It is disgusting. It is shameful. It is sad.
I took my young family to America some 30 odd years ago. The United States has since become home to my children and to my granddaughter. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the insurrection that we witnessed on Capitol Hill today. Never, as I gave occasional talks in my children’s schools, would I have imagined the rebellion and the treason fueled by a seditious US president refusing to cede power after losing an election.
The rioters who were escorted out of the Capitol by law enforcement (yes, “escorted”) will return to their homes, their hotels and motels this evening to revel in their actions and celebrate the mayhem that they caused. I saw no arrests being made at any time today, though media reports indicate that dozens were made. The police appeared to use far more restraint than we have seen them use at more peaceful protests in the past. A case in point was the highhandedness seen when police cleared Black Lives Matter protesters to allow President Trump to stand in front of St. John’s Church across from the White House to wave a bible.
Let us call this what it is. It is a coup attempt instigated and fired up by a toxic Donald Trump. It was an attack on democracy and the institutions of democracy by this president. What happened today could have been avoided. All this president needed to do, and can still do, is to accept the will of the American people, concede defeat and stop the nonsense about election fraud and a stolen election.
One thing Trump has inadvertently done is to put an end to any rationale for criticism of developing country leaders unwilling to leave power. Going forward, it would be highly ironic for countries of the developing south to hear any criticism leveled at them when their leaders conduct themselves in a sore loser manner similar to how this president has behaved.
Unfortunately, this evening’s riot eclipsed the brighter news of the day, which is the news of Georgia Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff defeating Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, respectively. With these two wins, Democrats will control the United States Senate. This is a fitting and definitive blow to Donald Trump. It also gives the incoming 46th President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden, the ability to govern effectively without what would have surely been an obstructionist Republican controlled Senate. There are many in the Republican party who bear responsibility for enabling this president, and for not speaking out against the many egregious things he has said and done.
I for one look forward to January 20th and the end of this disastrous Trump administration. But more so, I look forward to the return of mature leadership in the White House, and equally to a return of a rationally led America to the world stage. All we can hope for is that Donald Trump will not cause more chaos in his final two weeks in office. In my view, he was unsuited for office from day 1. Every day of his presidency has shown that to be true. The one person whose assessment proved to be pinpoint accurate is the President’s niece, Mary Trump. She knew her psychotic uncle’s character well and described to a ‘T’ exactly how he would react to losing this election.Some members of Congress have voiced invoking the 25th Amendment, by which President Trump could be removed from office. That is unlikely to happen. Or is it? @richard_uku
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Richard Uku is a writer/editor and communications professional based in the UK. (Photo courtesy Reuters)
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