Mike Pence can only be a master of ceremonies
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Trump supporters demonstrate in Washington against handover
Today Joe Biden is to be confirmed as 46th President by both houses of the US Congress. Tens of thousands of Trump supporters want to demonstrate in Washington. WELT correspondent Steffen Schwarzkopf spoke to them.
The US Congress wants to certify the result of the presidential election today. A delicate job for Vice President Pence. The outgoing President Trump has previously announced an appearance in front of his fans who want to demonstrate in Washington.
AThis Wednesday, both houses of Congress will meet in Washington to certify the results of the presidential election. The meeting will be chaired by Vice President Mike Pence and will begin at 7 p.m. Central European Time. What has traditionally been a pro forma session is likely to develop into a political event this year under Trump and his baseless claims about the election result.
Trump falsely claims that Vice President Pence can “do something for him” when it comes to certification. In fact, however, Pence will only act as master of ceremonies. His job is to open, sift through and count the envelopes containing the results of the electoral committee from the 50 states and the capital Washington. In the electoral body, President-elect Joe Biden has 306 votes, Trump 232 votes. The stage for the inauguration at the Capitol with a view of the National Mall has long been set up. Biden is to be sworn in here on January 20th.
On Tuesday there should have been an exciting lunch between Trump and Pence in the White House, reports the “New York Times”. Pence then told Trump that he did not believe he had the power to block the certification of Biden’s victory. Trump had previously claimed the opposite. The “vice president has the power to reject fraudulently elected electors,” he wrote on Twitter.
In the four-year joint term in office with Trump, Pence has been loyal to the president. While Trump changed ministers and top officials sometimes every few months, he stuck to pence. Both had run for their two offices together in November 2020. Should the relationship between the two men change shortly before they leave power?
Eleven Republican senators and over 100 members of the House of Representatives want to appeal against the election results in individual states. This should lead to separate meetings of both chambers for hours. With Democrats and a section of Republicans rejecting Trump’s baseless claims, there is no opportunity to “turn the vote” around.
The Republicans, who want to appeal on Wednesday, mostly avoid the question of whether they expect another term of Trump from January 20. You know yourself that this is completely unrealistic. That’s not what it’s about them either. The tactic behind the action of the eleven Republicans is to make themselves popular with the Trump base, possibly to create a basis for a 2024 presidential nomination.
And Trump? For many days he has been calling on his supporters to come to Washington. This Wednesday, the outgoing president wants to speak to his fans at 5 p.m. CET – close to, but outside of the White House. Hundreds of Trump fans had already traveled to Washington on Tuesday.
The area around the White House is largely cordoned off. Right-wing and right-wing radical groups like the “Proud Boys” want to demonstrate. Trump’s trade representative Peter Navarro appeared at a rally on Tuesday evening. One speaker said that if a member of the Congress does not reject the election result, it is done for “our movement”. The Trump supporters were easy to spot. Very few wore a mask, while masking is common in Washington.
