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The oath taking by Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president of the United States on January 20 marks the end of the episode of months long turbulent electoral process. Unlike in the past, the defeated candidate refused to accept the electoral verdict and boycotted the oath taking ceremony. The out-going president left the White House in the morning and took refuge in his personal residence in Florida. The inaugural ceremony was also different due to security concerns. The Washington D.C, the nation's capital, for the first time, was placed under several layers of security never seen before and people were advised to watch the inaugural ceremony from their homes. All these were the corollary of the violent attack on the Capitol Hill on January 6 that culminated in the death of one police officer and five civilians, extensive damage of properties and the building -- the historic seat of the highest legislature in the country.
Leaders of both political parties denounced the violent attack on the Capitol Hill and accused the outgoing president Donald Trump for inciting the mob gathered at the close proximity of the building. But what turned out as disconcerting was the summersault of the Republican leaders. Two days after the incident when the Democratic members in the Congress tabled the impeachment motion against Trump, the Republican members changed their tones. Some 197 members in the House of Representatives found it inappropriate to punish a person who is no longer in power. All Republican Senators except 5, hours after taking the oath to conduct the trial, reversed their positions stating that it is unconstitutional to indict a person who is no longer the president. In a way they were granting licence of malfeasance once the person ceases his/her previous portfolio. This is a travesty of justice and an encouragement of wrong-doing while in power.
It appears now that the Democratic Party will have to pursue the impeachment trial at the Senate. Except a handful of Senators, the Republican leaders have come to acknowledge that the party would need Trump more than Trump needs the party. One by one, the party leaders are pilgrimaging to Mara Lago, apologising for their comments implicating Trump to the insurrection of January 6 and begging Trump to be the torch-bearer of the party. They are afraid that Trump's political base has been galvanised by false rhetoric and would remain pivotal in the midterm election due in 2022 when many of the party leaders will fight for re-election. Trump's benediction matters most for them to get back to the Congress.
Trump's radical political base has been in creation for some time. It encompasses middle aged white population having no higher than school level education, mostly living in rural areas farming as principal occupation. They witnessed immigration of coloured people from overseas, settling in urban and semi-urban areas and competing in unskilled jobs. They were told that some twenty years ago the white population was more than 80 per cent of the total population - now it has dwindled down to 67 per cent. Should this trend keep unabated, the ownership of the country will pass on to non-white population. In the words of Trump "you will not have a country of your own".
Since the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965, Black youth with advanced degrees from the reputed universities took active part in politics and many successfully represented their communities at the House of Representatives and the Senate. Some even joined the cabinet in the Washington D.C. The election of Barack Obama in 2008 as president of the United States was a turning point for the black population. It was unimaginable a few years ago that a black man would ascend to the highest position in the country of predominantly white population. But Obama's ascend to the top job did not excoriate racism in the country. Instead, it reignited the racial hatred as evident from the number of unarmed African Americans being killed by white police personnel. Obama's efforts to build communities partnership with law enforcing agencies met with limited success. Many Congress members opposed Obama's domestic policies not on merit but because Obama being black, his thoughts and ideas were inimical to the White law makers. Trump went one step further and claimed that Obama was not born in the United States and therefore his presidency suffered from lack of legitimacy.
Trump entered 2016 presidential race with racist agenda. He proposed to build a wall along the southern border to stop infiltration of Latinos into the country and expressed his strong desire not to welcome any more refugees from the conflict zones. Trump voiced his disdain against the Muslims and soon after election issued restrictions on entry of travelers from six predominantly Muslim countries into the United States. Trump repudiated the temporary stay granted to 11 million undocumented immigrants on certain conditions and instructed the police to deport them to countries of origin. Trump withdrew from Trans Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement on the argument that it would allow foreign products overwhelm the American market. He termed global warming a hoax, walked away from the Paris Agreement and offered incentives on the production of coal mining and fossil fuels. All these measures were very dear to the rural white population. In Trump's populist and racist agenda, the rural white population found a dependable candidate for the White House. They voted for him and remained loyal to him.
Trump's tenure in the White House marked the resurgence of extremist organisations in the country. The White Supremacist group manifested its violent role in 2017 in Charlesville by attacking the people who opposed their demonstration. A woman was overrun by a running vehicle of the White Supremacist group. Trump condoned the killing by praising that "there are very nice people in both groups." The murder at Charlesville and Trump's refusal to condemn the perpetrators came as encouragement to other extremist outfits. Subsequently the Proud Boys, QAnon, Neo Nazi etc resurrected with agendas disapproving any significant role by the people of colour including the Jews in the country. They attended election rallies addressed by Trump in thousands and vowed to uphold Trump's political trajectory.
The Democratic Party, on the other hand, though firmly committed to capitalism, favours free trade, trans-Atlantic partnership in addressing global warming, containment of China and Russian influence in Europe and Far East, progressive rate of taxation for the wealthy, affordable health care for all Americans, assimilation of immigrants in the society and promotion of small entrepreneurs. Berny Sanders, a long time Senators from Vermont, advocated higher taxes for the wealthy, enforcing minimum hourly wage of $15, universal health care for all residents, tuition free education for students and large stimulus package for the lower income groups who have lost business or employment due to Covid-19. His left-leaning economic policy made him known as a socialist much to the consternation of immigrants who fled from Cuba and Venezuela in recent years. But people living in urban and semi-urban areas favours liberal socio-economic policies of the Democratic Party. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan orchestrated by the Republicans contributed to the polarisation of the society. The war mongers mostly identified with the Republican continue to support war initiatives while the minorities and the Muslims view the two wars as prelude to destabilisation in the Middle East.
The storming of the Capitol Hill on January 6 exposed how the Republican Party has been enormously infiltrated by the radical elements who were well armed and determined to take on some of the law makers from both political entities. They firmly believed in Trump and were convinced that the election was rigged by the opponents of Trump. They maintained that the ratification of Joe Biden's victory would transfer the ownership of the country to the non-white population and violence was the only recourse available to regain the country.
The investigation has unfolded that a group of law makers in the House of Representatives and in the Senate had complicity with armed protestors in ransacking the Capitol Hill. FBI's investigation revealed that Marjorie Taylor Green, a recently elected member in the House of Representative allegedly having close relation with QAnon accused "Speaker Nancy Pelosi for committing high crime punishable by death." FBI also revealed that about 20 former military personnel and 15 police personnel were amongst the mob responsible for storming the building.
The American society is dangerously polarised. Even within the Republican Party the moderates have surrendered to the erratic behaviour of Trump and lost courage to speak the truth. Trump's acolytes filed dozens of law suits challenging the outcome of the election, but the courts dismissed the lawsuits as Trump attorneys failed to produce a shred of evidence in support of their argument. Nevertheless, the Republican senators and House members had no guts to tell Trump and party members that there was nothing wrong in the election and wisdom lies in accepting the reality.
President Biden has pledged reconciliation and unity to move the country forward. But it would be hard to achieve as long as Trump retains the command of the party.
Abdur Rahman Choudhury is a former official of the United Nations.