Joe Biden’s victory confirmed by Congress after the attack on Capitol, 4 dead
President-elect Joe Biden’s 2020 victory was confirmed after a deadly attack on the Capitol building by armed supporters of President Donald Trump, who forced lawmakers to evacuate both the House and Senate chambers. Vice-President Mike Pence who presided over the count conducted by a joint session of Congress announced that Biden had won the Electoral College vote. A woman was shot dead by police and three others died of medical emergencies according to police. Congress was reconvened after the violence and has now certified Joe Biden’s election win. Trump called on his violent supporters to go home although repeated false claims the election was stolen. Earlier Democrats won two Senate seats in Georgia that tipped control of the Senate their way.
The Senate reconvened just after 8 pm ET Wednesday after it abruptly recessed.
“To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win”, Pence said as the Senate session resumed following the evacuations of the complex. “ As we reconvene in this chamber, the world will again witness the resilience and strength of our democracy, even in the wake of unprecedented violence and vandalism in this Capitol”, Pence said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “This mob was a good part President Trump’s doing, incited by his words, his lies. Today’s event almost certainly would not have happened without him”. The Senate voted 93 to 6 to dismiss the objection raised by Republicans to Arizona’s results and 92 to 7 to reject the objection to Pennsylvania.
In the House, a majority of Republicans voted to object to the results, that they were still rejected, 303 to 121 for Arizona and 282 to 138 for Pennsylvania, with all Democrats in opposition.
President Trump finally issued a statement committing to “an orderly transition on January 20th” but repeating his unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud. “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly Transition on January 20th,” he said in a comment published on his spokesperson’s Twitter account as Twitter has temporarily blocked the President from using his own account. More than 60 legal cases by Trump’s campaign team challenging the November result have failed. First Lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham and Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Matthews both resigned in protest, and there are reports that more administration officials will head for the exits in the next 24 hours. Trump’s presidency will be over in two weeks when the Republican Party leaders will have to deal with a future where it has lost control of Congress as well as the White House.