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DONALD TRUMP’S career in mainstream politics is over. The US Republican Party united to support him as US President only after he was elected. The Party endured the four years of his presidency – but now they’ve ditched him.
It wasn’t just that Trump lost the election. It was the ridiculous tantrum he threw in response that did for him. Trump railed on and on, insisting that only fraud could account for his loss, but unable to provide any proof that it may have taken place. It was like watching Jim Fitzpatrick MP respond to the election of Lutfur Rahman. After the election, there were whispers that Trump could try to be the Republican candidate in 2024. By the time Trump had cost the Republican two Senate seats in the Georgia, the whispers were silenced.
Although Trump’s career may be finished, the divisions in US society he created in office are still there – and they’re on the streets. Trump was championed by the extreme right, who helped bring in working class support by spreading the populist message. Macron also played the Trump card – and swept to power in France. Boris Johnson played the Trump card in the UK: his promise that Brexit would bring British workers milk and honey delivered the ludicrous Brexit and a parliamentary majority that should keep Boris in post for five more years
That cosy alliance was shattered when Trump lost the US presidential election. Some commentators are bewildered by his response – wondering why he can’t understand that the loss came because more people voted for Biden. Trump’s hissy fit was never intended to overturn the election result. It was designed to fire up the disaffected US working class, to mobilise them into a force which would make the USA ungovernable.
Today, 6th January, was supposed to go down in history as the day the US Congress confirmed that result of the electoral college vote – the last formal step that had to be taken to confirm the election result and see Biden installed as president later this month. Instead, it will be remembered as the day the US right brought the mob out onto the streets.
Demonstrators gathered around the Congress building – and then broke into the building. Reports are still coming in and much has not yet been confirmed. However, at the time of writing, it seems that some of the demonstrators were armed and some shots were fired before the police gained control and removed the intruders. Members of Congress have either been escorted out or are still in hiding in their own offices. The confirmation of the electoral college vote has, of course, been suspended.
It’s not the first time that the mob has taken support for Trump onto the streets. One woman was killed in Charlottesville in the summer of 2017 after demonstrations organised by the far right inflamed one of their supporters to drive into a counter-demo. What was going down on the streets was reflected in Government and in institutions such as the police. It’s little wonder that the Black Lives Matter movement grew exponentially under Trump.
The Republicans know they cannot overturn the election, and they are preparing to sit it out for two years, until the next elections to the finely balanced US Senate. Regaining a majority in the Senate would be a great springboard from which to launch a 2024 presidential campaign. The far right, which stands in the shadows behind Trump, Macron and Johnson have a different agenda – and an army of their own.
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