US Capitol riots shook millions of Americans, including Trump’s inner circle. And there stands the President, losing his most trusted deputies, one by one.
When the commander-in-chief of the free world incited his loyalists to march on the US Capitol, they turned into rioters and wreaked havoc on one of the most protected buildings in the world’s most powerful country. The attack targeted the most sacred structure for global democracy. With a fortnight left for Donald Trump in the White House, many close to the outgoing president had been hoping that he would take the last chance to leave the oval with a few good memories. The incident only made his last days impossible. The criticisms are not the usual ones. So grave is the presidential misdoing that his very own loyalists and hardline backers in the GOP have left his side. The news about Melania Trump seeking a divorce with Trump as soon as they leave the White House is already creating waves.
Watch: How the Riot unfolded as Pro-Trump mob stormed US Capitol
A Nightmarish Break Up
“Count me out, enough is enough,” says Trump loyalist and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are lawfully elected and will become the president and vice-president of the United States on January the 20th.” Graham has formerly been called as president Trump’s sidekick by the New York Times. Bloomberg called him Trump’s most important friend. The friend who acted no less than a bulwark while Trump was erecting a wall on American borders. When Trump was hellbent on firing the Former FBI director Robert Mueller for investing into Russia’s role in 2016 elections, Graham turned the mad president’s tide by requesting him to step back. “one thing that would turn me against you, and that is if you actually worked with the Russians.” Trump assured that he didn’t to which Graham said, “I believe you.”
But tables have turned and finally, one of the most significant of Trump’s inner circle has not only walked off but was also heckled by Trump’s supporters at the airport after he publicly blamed the president for the US Capitol riots. Another bold attack from a significant Republican came from Mitt Romney, 2012 presidential nominee for the Republican party. Soon after the US Capitol riots, Romney said at the Senate, “The truth is that President-elect Biden won the elections. President Trump lost. I’ve had that experience myself. It’s no fun!”
The morning when the US Capitol riots took place, significant officials of the president and first lady’s circle, one after another, submitted their resignation. The first in the line was Stephanie Grisham, the former White House communications director and press secretary and current chief of staff of the first lady. Grisham was followed by Anna Cristina Niceta, White House Social Secretary. But the biggest of all the major Trump break ups was with Vice President Mike Pence, who rejected Trump’s challenge to Nevada and Michigan’s electoral votes. Additionally, he announced that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have lawfully won the elections and will assume the office.
Later on during the day, White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews also submitted her resignation, “As someone who worked in the halls of Congress, I was deeply disturbed by what I saw today,” she said, “I will be stepping down from my role, effective immediately. Our nation needs a peaceful transfer of power.” The came another significant resignation from Trump’s former Chief of Staff and current Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, Mick Mulvaney. According to the CNN report, Mulvaney said, “I called Mike Pompeo last night to let him know I was resigning from that. I can’t do it. I can’t stay.”
What happened on Capitol Hill, redefined Trumpism
Despite Trump’s defeat in the presidential elections, many in the Republican party saw the president as an ideal candidate to re-contest in 2024, owing to the massive pro-Trump republican voter base. Joe Biden might have won the elections, but the fact that a huge portion of American population voted for Trump and Democrats indeed faced a close competition can’t be ignored. But after the US Capitol riots, Trump’s own inner circle has shrugged him off. And so have most of his supporters who are not extremists. Overwhelming criticism and worry from world leaders and domestic leaders who once stood by the president clearly indicates that chances of Trump making it back to the White House four years from now are slim. He turned his vital conservative fanbase that was revered by fellow Republicans into a violent extremist mob that eventually ended up shaming the country, embarrassing the GOP and isolating the president. What more, an isolated President has also been stripped off his most important tool, social media, with Twitter banning him permanently and Facebook and Instagram for two weeks and possibly longer.
Trump has been instigating hatred, paranoia and misinformation among his supporters since the election results. He kept defying the mandate figured out by the world’s champion democratic process and continued provoking people to fight for him. The incitement reached tipping point, a Pandora’s box burst open and the American democratic fabric felt excruciating pain. It took an unforgettable cost to affirm Donald Trump’s absolute exit from the American political scene. And now as he faces a furious backlash that may end up in an impeachment inquiry summing up his days in office, there couldn’t be a more appalling end to the Trump era as he goes down in history as the worst American president of all time.
