The US Congress on Monday certified US president-elect Donald Trump’s election victory, a formality that was remarkable for its contrast to four years ago, when the Republican summoned a mob to Washington that ransacked the US Capitol.
The president-elect spent much of his campaign facing prosecution over the 2021 insurrection, when his supporters — fueled by his false claims of voter fraud — rioted to halt the certification of his defeat to US President Joe Biden.
However, Trump, 78, was voted back into office in November last year and Monday’s ceremony went much more smoothly, even with a major winter storm blanketing the capital and much of the country in snow.
Photo: AFP
“Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida, has received 312 votes. Kamala D. Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes,” US Vice President Kamala Harris herself declared to assembled lawmakers after the counting was complete.
Harris — who oversaw the certification as part of her vice-presidential duties — said the official count “shall be deemed a sufficient declaration” for Trump and vice president-elect J.D. Vance to take their oaths of office on Jan. 20.
The ceremony marked the final blow to efforts to have the Republican leader face justice over the riot, the culmination of a multi-pronged alleged criminal conspiracy that prosecutors said Trump led — before they dropped all charges upon his election.
Trump has vowed to pardon an unspecified number of the rioters — about 900 of whom have admitted federal charges from trespassing and vandalism to assaulting police — describing them as “hostages.”
In a Washington Post op-ed, Biden slammed Trump’s allies for downplaying the violence of 2021 and urged Americans to be “proud that our democracy withstood this assault.”
“We cannot accept a repeat of what occurred four years ago,” he said. “An unrelenting effort has been underway to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day.”
Just like Harris, former US vice president Mike Pence certified his own defeat alongside Trump in 2021 when, in a desperate bid to cling to power, the then-president demanded that he reject Biden’s victory.
Pence, who refused to endorse Trump, hailed “the return of order and civility” in a statement praising “admirable” Harris for fronting up in defeat and fulfilling her duty.
Lawmakers in both parties have occasionally used the certification process to challenge elections, but more than half of US House of Representatives Republicans rejected the results in 2021.
No Democratic leaders followed the Republican example this time around and there were no objections to certifying Trump’s victory — a process that took barely half an hour.
“I do believe very strongly that America’s democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for — every single person, their willingness to fight for — and respect the importance of our democracy,” Harris told reporters afterward. “Otherwise, it is very fragile, and it will not be able to withstand moments of crisis. And today, America’s democracy stood.”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS