When we talk about style, most of us think about that fashionable timeless elegance that has the power to elevate an individual with distinctive flair to a sort of iconic state. But style also refers to how individuals express themselves in writing or speaking and the way they conduct themselves. Behaving decently is indeed a duty for each and everyone of us, and it is even more so for public figures who may be considered as role models for society. For example, honest politicians with impeccable integrity command respect, inspiring people to trust and confide in institutions. This can't certainly be said about the current US President Donald Trump, due to leave office on 20th January.
Years of his divisive presidency, characterised by violent tones, an incendiary aggressive rhetoric, continuous accusations of telling fake news to all those journalists who didn't recount his versions of the facts, derisive nicknames for his adversaries, and months spent accusing the Democrats of stealing the election with fraud and irregularities, fomented anger and rage in his supporters.
At his speech at a Stop the Steal rally on Wednesday in Washington, Trump vowed never to concede defeat and reached an entirely new level: he encouraged protesters to march on the Capitol to undo his November election defeat, a suggestion that led to a shocking revolt. Last year German weekly Der Spiegel featured on one of its covers Trump in the Oval Office holding a lighted match, a country ablaze visible through his window. The illustration was accompanied by the headline: "Der Feuerteufel", meaning "the Fire Devil".
That cover perfectly summarises what happened yesterday: after his speech an angry crowd stormed the US Capitol building, a political symbol of democracy, and the House of Representatives and Senate chambers. The insurrection started outside with rioters carrying slogans such as "MAGA (Make America Great Again)", "Trump 2020" and "Liberty or death: don't tread on me" and the confederate flag as well.
Soon people managed to get inside the debating chamber, interrupting the tallying of electoral college votes to affirm Joe Biden's victory. People broke windows, entered the building and stormed in the offices, while those inside the chambers were told to duck under their seats for cover. Mike Pence, the vice-president, and members of the Congress had to be evacuated for their safety.
Following the developments on TV or social media was a surreally unbelievable experience: Trump loyalists, among them rioters dressed in army gear and supporters of disproven and discredited far-right conspiracy theory QAnon (in rather bizarre attires...) roamed the halls, then they started posting their own pictures on social media.
One rioter broke into the office of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, and put his foot on her desk; another happily saluted the photographers while stealing a lectern complete with microphones. One of the scariest images showed a siege-like scene that you may see during a coup, with security forces inside the House chamber pointing guns at protesters through a door.
While the mob was still rioting around the Capitol, Joe Biden, the president-elect, shocked and saddened by what was happening, spoke about democracy being assaulted. "The scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not represent the true America, do not represent who we are," he stated, adding "I call on President Trump to go on national television now to fulfill his oath and defend the constitution and demand an end to this siege (...) It's not protest. It's insurrection."
Rather than going on TV, Trump sent a video on Twitter asking protesters to leave, but hinting once again at election fraud, stating "I know your pain, I know you're hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us (...) But you have to go home now", concluding with an affectionate message for the violent rioters, "We love you, you're very special."
Social media finally reacted, with Twitter, Facebook and Instagram locking Trump out of his accounts to stop misinformation and violence incitement; Facebook suspended Trump from posting to his account for 24 hours; Twitter locked Trump out of his account for 12 hours and requested him (to unlock the account) to delete three tweets violating the company's policies (Trump did it today).
In the meantime the national guard was activated and in the early evening the Capitol was declared "secure" again, Senators were escorted back into the chamber and the certification of electoral college votes resumed.
Questions remain about the rioters being able to get near and inside the Capitol, almost too easily. The few police officers on the steps of the Capitol were indeed quickly overwhelmed or they didn't seem as responsive as they were during other events such as Black Lives Matter marches.
Sickened by the events, political leaders from all over the world watched in horror the lack of respect shown for democracy, while in an official statement, former US President Barack Obama stated: "History will rightly remember today's violence at the Capitol, incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of great dishonor and shame for our nation. But we'd be kidding ourselves if we treated it as a total surprise."
"For two months now, a political party and its accompanying media ecosystem has too often been unwilling to tell their followers the truth - that this was not a particularly close election and that President-Elect Biden will be inaugurated on January 20. Their fantasy narrative has spiraled further and further from reality, and it builds upon years of sown resentments. Now w'’re seeing the consequences, whipped up into a violent crescendo."
Trump's semantics of violence wove a thick web of lies and conspiracy theories, incendiary accusations that fuelled people's anger. Trumpism built hate word by word, tweet after tweet: the President often called Black Lives Matter protesters "thugs", and passionately defended white nationalists never condemning people such as teenager Kyle Rittenhouse who killed two protesters and injured another one during the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Trump also asked right wing supermacist groups like the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" during the presidential debate with Joe Biden in September and even used Covid-19 to create anxiety and hate and inflame white supremacist groups with anti-lockdown messages (his "liberate Michigan!" cry last April that followed the decision of the Democratic governor of the state Gretchen Whitmer to impose stay-at-home orders to avoid Covid infections to spread, resulted in a plot to kidnap Whitmer).
The results of the Capitol Hill riots were tragic with one woman shot dead by the US Capitol police and three other people who died in medical emergencies. But there may be further consequences: most protests weren't wearing any masks and obviously no social distancing was practiced during the riots. So, expect rates of Covid infections to rise even more in the next two weeks in America, a country that has so far struggled to keep the contagion under control.
US Vice-President elect Kamala Harris reassured in a tweet that "Democracy will prevail", while President-elect Joe Biden tweeted, "Today is a reminder, a painful one, that democracy is fragile. To preserve it requires people of good will, leaders with the courage to stand up, who are devoted not to pursuit of power and personal interest at any cost, but to the common good." Their focus on preserving democracy and adopting a very different style when it comes to the tone and language of their speeches are a glimpse of a calmer presidency for the United States that will hopefully benefit domestic politics and foreign policy as well.
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