For the past two months, President Donald Trump has urged his supporters to protest what he has alleged was a fraudulent election.
On Wednesday, he got specific.
Go to the U.S. Capitol, he told the crowd, where members of Congress were assembled to formalize the Electoral College results declaring Joe Biden president-elect.
And then democracy unraveled.
The crowd turned violent with hundreds breaching the security barriers and flooding the Capitol building. Armed with bats, clubs and even firearms, they overran the Capitol police force and stormed the building. Four people died amid the conflict.
In any other country, it would be deemed a coup.
Inside, lawmakers were barricaded behind locked doors, upon which protesters pounded.
Video and pictures showed the lawmakers kneeling behind desks and partitions. Some were seen praying.
For the more senior members, the last time they had felt such a threat was on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists steered their planes into the Pentagon and other sites.
Then, the terrorists were from the Middle East.
Wednesday’s thugs were U.S. citizens.
The president, meanwhile, remained mum as he watched the violence unfold over cable news.
Hours in, he tweeted for the protesters to “remain peaceful,” though was unwilling to demand the demonstrators break up.
It was only when President-elect Biden called on Trump to demand they withdraw that the president found the gumption to do so.
Even then, he did not condemn the violence. Instead, he pleaded his case, again, alleging he’s a victim of election fraud.
