The whole country is wondering: what will happen now?

Of: Staffan lindberg

Published: January 7, 2021 at 8:49 p.m.
Updated: January 7, 2021 at 9:26 p.m.

Donald Trump’s presidency is coming to an end, to the sound of hate speech and sharp gunfire.

The seizure of Parliament is compared to the bloody days of the Civil War.

“This is just the beginning of our fight to make America great again,” warns the president.

Broken glass has been swept out of the Capitol. The blood has been cleansed and the smoke has cleared.

It is the day after the heart attack of American democracy, and a whole country is asking the same question.

What will happen now?

The protests on January 6 were planned for a long time. Thousands of protesters demonstrated in the capital, prompted by a president who, despite swearing to defend the country’s constitution and democracy, for two months spread unsubstantiated accusations of widespread electoral fraud.

The television images that were wired looked like something out of a doomsday movie.

Trump supporters fought their way through the barricades, past police with weapons drawn, to literally occupy the seats of elected representatives. Meanwhile, the terrified senators crouched behind closed doors.

It all looked like a school shooting. Or a terrorist attack.

“The darkest day”

In fact, it was the peaceful shift of power, the cornerstone of all democracy, that derailed into a chaos of lies and violence.

The assault on the Capitol led to the evacuation of the Senate, and the confirmation of the election result that would make Joe Biden president had to be suspended.

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer saw the chaos as the culmination of Trump’s destructive presidency and was quick to point to the president as extremely guilty.

“January 6 will go down in history as one of the darkest days in American history,” he said.

Page changed

But the storm appears to have shocked even the toughest Republicans.

With the exception of some high-profile opponents, like former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the upper echelons of the Republican Party have lagged behind Trump for the past four years. By looking the other way, swallowing the president’s lies or spreading them themselves, they have tried to ride his wave of popularity.

On Wednesday, loyal Vice President Mike Pence was forced to resist pressure from Trump and declare that he could not stop the electoral process.

And congressmen who previously shared the president’s unfounded allegations of election fraud were quick to switch sides after the storm.

“An attempted coup”

Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who looks set to lose her reelection in Georgia, explained her turnaround as follows:

– The events that occurred today have forced me to rethink and I cannot now, with a clear conscience, protest, he said in a statement.

In the United States, the main voices of opinion are now tempted to put into words the images of terror from Washington.

Jonathan Lemire of the AP news agency writes in an analysis that the storm recalls the bloody days of the civil war and quotes historian Michael Beschloss, who describes the incident as an attempted coup by Trump.

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The New York Times editorial singles out Trump as guilty and demands that his incitement “have consequences,” while his rival Washington Post goes one step further and demands that the president be removed prematurely.

The country’s conservative media, which have been singled out as the president’s parrots, have a lower profile so far.

Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham tweets about that the storm is “a disgrace”, despite the fact that she herself has been accused for four years of having played a key role in spreading the president’s lies.

Meanwhile, the right-wing populist TV channel Newsmax, which Trump has increasingly relied on in recent weeks, seals competitor reports as “tabloid”.

Trump: a “super influencer”

According to a Yougov poll, the majority of Americans believe the assault on the Capitol is a threat to democracy. At the same time, he has nearly 45 percent of the support of Republican voters.

America seems more fragmented than ever in modern times, and the future is uncertain.

– I don’t believe in a civil war, like some do. But the unrest may spread to other cities, says US expert and communications consultant Andreas Utterström.

Although chaos is the logical end of Donald Trump’s presidency, it does not mean the end of Trump as a power factor, according to Utterström.

He likens Trump to a “super influencer,” with a large and uncommon following of followers.

– I believe that Trump will try to make money with them in the future by creating his own media channel, a “Trump TV”, where he can continue to spread conspiracy theories. And who he supports in the 2022 midterm elections will be incredibly important.

“I need couples therapy”

How will the Republican Party avoid falling apart?

– You need to go to couples therapy and decide if you are a Trump party or something else. Trump has captured the contempt of the elite like no other and many opportunists have jumped on the bandwagon. Although many may have had an idea of ​​the storm, memory is short. I think politicians like Ted Cruz will do anything to take over. One wonders if Trump will be a parenthesis or if he will change politics forever. I think so later, says Andreas Utterström.

And how should America be able to heal?

– You would need something to agree on. A belief in the future. But it is difficult to see what it should consist of. Even if you see the same problem, the disagreement over the solutions is complete. I don’t think anyone envies Joe Biden right now.

Trump warning

As the American people wonder if Trump has any cards left to play during his last two weeks in power, the president continues to spread ambiguity.

Although on Wednesday night he promised a peaceful transfer of power under “orderly forms”, he took the opportunity to issue a warning:

“This is just the beginning of our fight to make America great again.”

Published: January 7, 2021 at 8:49 p.m.