Yes, Trump will leave office — but his seditious secession movement isn't going away. Trump is doomed, and ultimately so is his movement. But they may be willing to destroy America on their way down
Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by more than 7 million votes. All 50 states have certified the votes cast in the 2020 election, and as of Monday evening, the members of the Electoral College have cast their ritual votes. On Jan. 6, Congress will count those votes and confirm Biden as president-elect. (Republican dead-enders can delay that process, but they have no power to stop it. On Jan. 20, Joe Biden will take the oath of office as the 46th president of the United States.
How has President Trump responded to these events? By enlisting or intimidating his allies and sycophants into an attempted coup against American democracy.
Trump's plot, so far, has involved dozens of lawsuits demanding that the results of the 2020 election be overturned. These cases have involved false claims of "voter irregularities," "fraud," votes cast after Election Day and assorted other lies and conspiratorial fictions. Trump has also embedded loyalists in key positions throughout the federal government, with the apparent goal of sabotaging Biden's presidency.
Predictably, there have been threats of violence by Trump and his agents against their "enemies" who are "disloyal" because they refuse to collaborate in the plot to nullify the election results of the 2020 election. This stochastic terrorism bore poisoned fruit last Saturday as the "Western chauvinist" Proud Boys and other right-wing thugs descended upon Washington to protest the defeat of their leader.
Trump's unofficial paramilitaries attacked people seemingly at random and sought out street fights with antifascists and other groups. There were four stabbings, leaving one person in critical condition, and more than 30 arrests.
As part of their rampage, the pro-Trump goons also engaged in apparent hate crimes targeting black churches, stealing and burning Black Lives Matter banners. The Rev. Ianther M. Mills of the Asbury United Methodist Church described the events as "reminiscent of cross burnings" by the Ku Klux Klan.
Author and commentator Jared Yates Sexton summarized last weekend's events on Twitter: "Laugh at the Proud Boys and all these fascist street gangs all you want, but if there were ever-present cellphones and cameras in 1920s Germany you can bet the videos would look pretty identical."
Yes, Trump will leave office — but his seditious secession movement isn't going away | Salon.com