The events after the elections on November 3 in the United States have shocked the country and the world. What will remain of Donald Trump’s legacy and how can President-elect Joe Biden move forward on the main routes of his government program?
The Voice of america He interviewed US presidential historian Douglas Brinkley in Austin, Texas, and the researcher uncovered the details of the crucial moment.
From a historical perspective, the recent assault on the Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, and for which the House of Representatives now accuses Trump of “inciting insurrection,” has a parallel, Brinkley told the VOA collaborator, Greta Van Susteren, with the moments of the struggle for civil rights of the 1960s, under the leadership of Martin Luther King.
In Photos: Pro-Trump Demonstrators Enter Capitol Building
While protests in support of President Donald Trump continue on the street, some protesters forcibly entered the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, January 6, 2020. Authorities fired tear gas in an attempt to control the crowd and cut off the access to protesters.
“But what is different is that we have never had a siege on the capital of the United States. We’ve never had someone walk into a crowd and create chaos like this, ”Brinkley said.
Beyond impeachment to which the outgoing president will be submitted in the SenateHe observes, “it’s about Donald Trump and what happens to him once he loses power.”
Was the United States government at risk of collapse during the riots? FLY.
It is almost unthinkable, says the historian, “America is built very strongly.”
Trump rejected the result of the November 3 elections Almost from the start, and after more than 50 legal attempts, “he was left empty-handed,” Brinkley said.
However, he believes, the outgoing president never went beyond his complaints on social networks and some public appearances, “but he did not try to gather troops to reject Biden as president”, although he continued to fall until “his presidency deteriorated at the beginning of 2021 “.
“That will be the dark stain of Trump’s legacy,” he said.
The near future
The unity of the country’s main forces and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic will be the main challenges of the coming Democratic administration, the historian explains.
“Once Biden and Harris take office on January 20, they will see a kind of unity for a time, maybe a hundred days, for a stimulus package for COVID-19,” he said.
In addition, he predicts, the administration should continue with the Operación Warp Speed with which the Administration is dealing with the distribution of the vaccine, but “Donald Trump, as former president, will face his own demands,” he says.
He trumpismo it won’t go away even if Donald Trump leaves the White House “
Douglas Brinkley, historian
Trump won’t be the first outgoing president not to attend his successor’s inaugurationBrinkley says, and mentions Andrew Johnson, who “didn’t show up for the inauguration, he just went back to Tennessee.”
“There is a bifurcation in the Republican Party, with Trump on one side and Senator Mitch McConnell on the other, he notes.” trumpismo it’s not going to go away even if Donald Trump leaves the White House. “
The cancellation of President Trump’s accounts on most social networks It has set a precedent, which has brought the important issue of freedom of expression to the fore, Brinkley says.
Such a significant currency for democracy, he predicts, however, could end in “many court cases related to this.”
* With information from VOA collaborator Greta Van Susteren.
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