LIVE coverage: Congress certifies Biden’s win after pro-Trump rioters stormed Capitol in deadly siege
WASHINGTON, DC — Congress formally affirmed President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 victory early Thursday morning, completing a final step in the electoral process after a mob incited by President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday and forced lawmakers to evacuate both the House and Senate chambers.
Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over the count conducted by a joint session of Congress, finally announced that Biden had won the Electoral College vote after the House and Senate easily defeated Republican objections lodged against the votes sent by two states, Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Following the formal affirmation by Congress, Trump issued a statement early Thursday pledging an "orderly" transfer of power to Biden.
Lawmakers in both parties had made clear they were determined to finish the count following the chaos at the Capitol, which delayed the proceedings for more than five hours while lawmakers were forced into lockdown by a pro-Trump mob that overran U.S. Capitol Police.
The nation’s elected representatives scrambled to crouch under desks and donned gas marks, while police futilely tried to barricade the building, one of the most jarring scenes ever to unfold in a seat of American political power. A woman who was shot and killed inside the Capitol was among four people who died during the siege, and Washington’s mayor instituted an evening curfew in an attempt to contain the violence.
Pence was back presiding over the session Wednesday night and into the wee hours of Thursday as congressional leaders vowed to finish counting the Electoral College votes.
"To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win," Pence said as the session resumed. "As we reconvene in this chamber, the world will again witness the resilience and strength of our democracy, even in the wake of unprecedented violence and vandalism in this Capitol."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has pushed back against Trump's effort to use the joint session to overturn the election results, said that Congress has "faced down much greater threats than the unhinged crowd we saw today."
"They tried to disrupt our democracy. They failed," the Kentucky Republican said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer charged that Trump "bears a great deal of the blame" for Wednesday's violence and rioting.
"This mob was a good part President Trump's doing, incited by his words, his lies," the New York Democrat said. "Today's events almost certainly would not have happened without him."
The rioters were egged on by Trump, who has spent weeks falsely attacking the integrity of the election and had urged his supporters to descend on Washington to protest Congress’ formal approval of Biden’s victory. Some Republican lawmakers were in the midst of raising objections to the results on his behalf when the proceedings were abruptly halted by the mob.
Together, the protests and the GOP election objections amounted to an almost unthinkable challenge to American democracy and exposed the depths of the divisions that have coursed through the country during Trump’s four years in office. Though the efforts to block Biden from being sworn in on Jan. 20 were sure to fail, the support Trump has received for his efforts to overturn the election results have badly strained the nation’s democratic guardrails.
The president gave his supporters a boost into action Wednesday morning at a rally outside the White House, where he urged them to march to the Capitol. He spent much of the afternoon in his private dining room off the Oval Office watching scenes of the violence on television. At the urging of his staff, he reluctantly issued a pair of tweets and a taped video telling his supporters it was time to “go home in peace” — yet he still said he backed their cause.
A somber President-elect Biden, two weeks away from being inaugurated, said American democracy was “under unprecedented assault,” a sentiment echoed by many in Congress, including some Republicans. Former President George W. Bush said he watched the events in “disbelief and dismay.”
The domed Capitol building has for centuries been the scene of protests and occasional violence. But Wednesday’s events were particularly astounding both because they unfolded at least initially with the implicit blessing of the president and because of the underlying goal of overturning the results of a free and fair presidential election.
Tensions were already running high when lawmakers gathered early Wednesday afternoon for the constitutionally mandated counting of the Electoral College results, in which Biden defeated Trump, 306-232. Despite pleas from McConnell, more than 150 GOP lawmakers planned to support objections to some of the results, though lacking evidence of fraud or wrongdoing in the election.
Trump spent the lead-up to the proceedings publicly hectoring Pence, who had a largely ceremonial role in the proceedings, to aid the effort. He tweeted on Wednesday: “Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!”
But Pence, in a statement shortly before presiding, defied Trump, saying he could not claim “unilateral authority” to reject the electoral votes that make Biden president.
Shortly after the first GOP objections, protesters fought past police and breached the building, shouting and waving Trump and American flags as they marched through the halls. Lawmakers were told to duck under their seats for cover and put on gas masks after tear gas was used in the Capitol Rotunda. Some House lawmakers tweeted they were sheltering in place in their offices.
Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., told reporters he was in the House chamber when rioters began storming it. Security officers “made us all get down, you could see that they were fending off some sort of assault, it looked like. They had a piece of furniture up against the door, the door, the entry to the floor from the Rotunda, and they had guns pulled,” Peters said.
“And they just told us to take our pins off,” he added, referring to lapel pins members wear so Capitol Police can quickly identify them. Then the lawmakers were evacuated.
Staff members grabbed the boxes of Electoral College votes as the evacuation took place. Otherwise, said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the ballots likely would have been destroyed by the protesters.
Trump supporters posting on internet forums popular with far-right fringe elements celebrated the chaos. Messages posted on one turned from profane frustration over the content of Trump’s speech to glee when supporters stormed the building. At least one leading figure was livestreaming video from inside the Capitol during the siege.
The mob’s storming of Congress prompted bipartisan outrage, mostly from Democrats but from Republicans as well, as lawmakers accused Trump of fomenting the violence with his relentless falsehoods about election fraud. Several suggested that Trump be prosecuted for a crime, which seems unlikely two weeks from when his term expires.
“I think Donald Trump probably should be brought up on treason for something like this,” Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., told reporters. “This is how a coup is started. And this is how democracy dies.”
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., who’s at times clashed with Trump, issued a written statement saying, “Lies have consequences. This violence was the inevitable and ugly outcome of the President’s addiction to constantly stoking division.”
Despite Trump’s repeated claims of voter fraud, election officials and his own former attorney general have said there were no problems on a scale that would change the outcome. All the states have certified their results as fair and accurate, by Republican and Democratic officials alike.
The Pentagon said about 1,100 District of Columbia National Guard members were mobilized to help support law enforcement at the Capitol. More than a dozen people were arrested.
As darkness set in, law enforcement officials worked their way toward the protesters, using percussion grenades to try to clear the area around the Capitol. Big clouds of tear gas were visible. Police in full riot gear moved down the steps, clashing with demonstrators.
Lol! Pence throwing Trump under the bus! I’ll give Pence credit: he knows and follows the Constitution, unlike Mango Mussolini.
Meanwhile, Trump supporters have to be pepper sprayed outside the capital because blue lives matter only when it’s convenient.
An attempted American coup in my lifetime. I never would have believed it.
Where were you when you’re people, the BLMers were storming not only DC, but Seattle, Portland, Milwaukee, and other blue states? Only when its convenient for demoKKKrats?
We are as close to civil war in this country as we were in the 1800’s. There are over 70 million voters that firmly believe that this was a rigged election.
Madmike, screw your 70 million. Grfo! We won the election. Too sad so bad for you and your 70 mil peckerwoods. You got overthrown! President, senate, house,, etc. comprende amigo?
Foreman Mike, shut the f*** up!! There are 78+ million people who despise Trump!! You are outnumbered even in a Deep South state like Georgia. People are sick and tired of this incompetent a**hole and his psychotic supporters.
We should return the “decency” your party has promoted for the last four years.
No member of your upcoming administration or supporters should have peace in public. Gather crowds and tell them they are not welcome here. ( Maxine Walters )
Should I go on the with the mile long list?
It’s what liberals refer to as peaceful protests. Nothing to worry about.
Maggat
You are extremely stupid. Do you not know who is storming the Capitol? It’s your dumb ignorant pieces of shit kind of assholes. You fucking lost the election. You were smeared and none of your babbling is going to change that. None of your illegal storming is going to change that. You lost the election and you lost your ethics. You are not a patriot or an american. You are tRumpster. A real republican would never want the constitution overturned because you lost. You fucking loser.
Just pointing out the liberal hypocrisy. When ANTIFA tried to storm the White House, idiots like you called it “Peaceful protests”. What’s the difference? You supported MONTHS of looting, rioting and burning. NOW it’s suddenly a problem?
You idiot. There is no antifa. You are a moron. The hypocrisy you speak of runs through your tRump veins. you must really hate yourself for your low intellect and I know that somewhere deep in the dark recesses of your soul, you know you are wrong . You fucking lost
Your idiot demigod endorsed and called for this behavior. You don’t have to admit it in your alternate universe. You lie to yourself. Look in the mirror and you will see how deeply ugly you really are. You have no courage.
No ANTIFA????? Come on Cara de Bolsa!!!!
Denial, its more than just a river in africa
There is no cara. Just cara de caca. No intellect needed here for he/she.
Antifa is a movement. Not an organization.
Antifa folks were not engaging in treason and sedition
You’re a movement, a bowel movement!
maga is so delusional he must be on LSD and has been for the past 4 yers lol. Nadodave making up stuff to justify these riots. PD should have opened fire on these criminals case closed. MOve on folks and stop being such snowflakes. #vivaGeorgia
Original MAGAturd, what happened to Republicans supporting “law and order” and “back the blue”? You and your patriot comrades are hated just like Trump. Get that through your thick skull, dumba**!!
Incoming president Biden needs to fire all those weak liberal free reign capitol police!
Not destroying private property is ok. I’ll quote Cris Cuomo “where does it say protests need to be peaceful”….. I’m interested in who the agitators really are in the end. If you “clash” with police expect to get arrested
The precedent was set this year. Of course the other side is going to behave this way. There is a price to pay for what was allowed from the left side. How could anyone not see this coming?
Biden/Harris have their work cut out for them let’s see how well they “unite” the nation.
They need to walk a fine line. Very slim margins in both chambers and and a somewhat conservative court although I don’t think the SCOTUS will effect them much. If they try some really wacko AOC/Bernie stuff the mid-terms will be a disaster for them. Biden knows this but Kamala might learn the hard way.
Prison terms for Nazi filth. No need to unite. Don’t unite. Jail.
Just turn yourself in comrade turner and take your illegal dirt farm workers with you.
Bring it BOY!
Madmike now you and your five friends can get in line and sk my dk!
Yes Nazi’s should be jailed or shot. POS.
I’ll be waiting, loser!
We should return the “decency” your party has promoted for the last four years.
No member of your upcoming administration or supporters should have peace in public. Gather crowds and tell them they are not welcome here. ( Maxine Walters )
Should I go on the with the mile long list?
NOTHING WILL CHANGE! BIDEN WILL BE PRESIDENT!
That is correct. Biden will still be useless and unaware of what is going on around him.
Nadodave get one your knees and sk Democrat dk.
All you think about is sucking dk. That is why you got thrown out of the Navy.
You have those sentences backwards.
Leftists LOVE war and violence. Well, here you go. Our country is now likely at war with itself once again. Nice Job Leftists.
Hey, Dumb Shit! It is not Leftists who have overrun the Capitol!! It is Trump Right Wing violent supporters who are committing Sedition!! The
BLM protests earlier this year did not directly threaten The Capitol Building and All of the representatives of our US government.
Oh please! BLM was on the same level as these degenerates today. BLM is a cancer on society. Get used to this back and forth for many years.
Tell you what is Cancer in our society–it is Trump and his followers, and fuckheads like you! BIDEN IS OUR PRESIDENT AND NOTHING WILL CHANGE THAT!
And Trump has been the greatest President in US History and nothing will change that.
Oh pme3ase stop watching KFOX14
Oh piss on you. Stop listening to idiots at Communist Nitwits Network.
No, because BLM are a bunch of pussies. They only attack moms and pops stores.
Rightists on the way to prison. No Republicans will hold office for generations. Good thing.
Full of shit, as usual, mark
The National Guard has been called in to rout these Trump Anarchists. And after all is said and done Trump is DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE and his name will go down in INFAMY. Trump Mobs will not change A THING because the American people have spoken for BIDEN/HARRIS !!!!
Things have been changing since the all the violent protests earlier this year. This will continue for a long time. Buckle up.
Good deal. We can get rid of the Nazi scum and liars like the orange buffoon.
You are the Gulag asshole, bring it!
Madmike I’ll spank you anyday. I’m not alberto pendejo. You piece of white crap.
DC will charge the orange buffoon with inciting a riot on January 21.
No they won’t, liar.
Maggat you are one stupid lame brained worm. tRump is not great in any way. You need to climb up into his asshole and suck on his turds til you belch and then start over.
Tell ’em Cara!!!! Granny maga the Trump turd sucker is a certified Imbecile, so there is no cure for her.
Your *greatest* president is the greatest alright. Greatest Asshole. Greatest Racists. Greatest Rapist. Greatest Imbecile. Greatest Dictator. Greatest Clown…need I say more???
Take them all out! Dang hillbillies. Meanwhile we have the local ones here on these forums sitting on their ass flapping their vagina mouths. Lol. Delanders, K1DPR, Jeff Allen, nadodave, uteruscowboy, the original caca,. Biden/harris2020!!!!!!!! Don’t forget it losers. Now we have the house, senate, president. Sleep tight ladies.
Trump will be pulled out of office by force. Lol. Can’t wait to see it.
National guard should remember what Trump said about them. Losers. Now time to get a little payback with the Moron trump group.
The *greatest* president will be hog-tied and handcuffed to be removed from the White House. What is so great about him Now!!!
Yes biden will be handcuffed and removed from office. Along with his son.
EMPLOYMENT DESIRED: US PARK POLICE or US SECRET SERVICE. DUTIES: PUTTING MY FOOT DOWN AND UP THE ASS OF TRUMPTURDS REPUBLICAN THUGS ,US SENATE LOOTERS & RIOTERS & COUP MEMBERS. EXPERIENCE: MASTER PLUMBERS ROTOR ROOTING CACA
The will be gassed. They will Fire. Not gonna be pretty.
Bunch of maga hats all over the floor. Lol
They called out a civil war. They gonna have it.
And you ain’t gonna do shit but hide behind your keyboard, puss!
And Biden STILL YOur President, control the house and senate. Haya like them now? Lol. Madmike, I hope you went to Washington with your herd.
These Trump maggots will be flushed from Congress. Rule of Law will prevail and NOTHING will change President Biden from assuming office. NOTHING!! Blood is Trump’s Hands and nothing will be able to clean them. AFTER THIS, TRUMP’S CAREER IS OVER AND DONE. No politician in his right mind will align him/herself with this Psychopath!!!
AMEN!
Its awoman now. Haven’t you heard?
Jon Ossoff DECLARED NEW SENATOR FROM GEORGIA!! Senate Control, House Control, Executive Control!! Democrats have TOTAL control. Choke on that Trumpies!!!
Ossoff just went home to beat up on his wife again. Choke on that demoKKKrats.
Loser Trumpies. Winner Democrats. Sorry chief, but you lose. Choke on that, Son.
How did you know I was a Chief ass wipe? alberto must have told you I was responsible for kicking IT out of the Navy.
Lol. No Alberto meco! Never has been. I’m Mexican , make more money than you, better than you, more Intelligent/educated than you, better looking than you, etc. oh and you are a loser Trumptard! Lol. Go hide you white moron! Suk it!
White trash hillbillies mad. White trash hillbillies no like democracy. White trash hillbillies too ignorant to figure out what’s happening. White trash hillbillies going to jail!😀🇺🇸
That’s how we know you are alberta, exact same bullshit!
The whites trash invades the White House.
Your daddy was there?
Over 70 million voters believe the election was filled with fraud. Who shot the unarmed woman in the neck today? Either ANTIFA/BLM infiltrators or Capital Police
It was your momma who went to root for Trump and shot that woman instead.
Probably an imbedded leftist shitbag like you.
Those 70 million ignorant white trash would be wrong then, wouldn’t they?
Then why not let a simple audit happen? If this election was clean and fair then an audit would prove that and Biden can gloat his victory. Denying that raises huge questions. The democrats and the RINO’s won’t allow it because they know they will be exposed. If they had nothing to hide they would be transparent. They clearly have something to hide.
Over 80 million people know that the 70 million who voted for Trump are traitors and seditionists who should be in prison.
Wrong as usual. The Patriot party is coming and it will not be weak like the Republican party. We will stand up to the liberal bullies in DC. This is just the beginnng.
I took your dautr nado. I like confused mestizas. Easy.
SHIT-STAIN turner and his girlfriend, Alberto, the other SHIT-STAIN with their racist WHITE this and that… Inferiority complex PIECES OF SHIT!!!
Agreed.
Trumpies are the pieces of Trump Shit. Clean yourselves off and wait to be shit on again by your hero Trump.
That means we have to clean ourselves off of you, uxcrement. You are not even a piece. You are the whole deal that alberto defecates on your face.
Same asshole!
TruthoftheMoron, don’t forget to shove the lump of charcoal in your mouth on your way out with Tramp. You are all a bunch sore loser pussies!!! In your damn faces!!!
25th Amendment on the way!!!😀🇺🇸
Remove the criminal NOW.
Pence has assumed power!
You mean camel la la don’t you?
You are the only criminal here!
Yes remove biden now. That is if he is not asleep.
They’re trying to but Biden won’t come put of his basement.
Yes. For demential biden.
Yeah, whatever. Say hi to your new Congress and President, Trump retards!!
Whine, Cry, Bitch and Moan. It won’t do you any good! The Trumpies are done. Go home and cry to your wives. They are the only ones that care!!
All quiet in El Paso. Trumpies are too scared to try anything here. Anyway there are only about five of them. Shitty Dave, granny maga, goofy mike, lieofthematter, and some other Retard who I can’t think of.
Electoral College will resume the certification of the next President of the United States now that all the Redneck hillbillies have gone back to the hills.
But you are still here, hiding behind your laptop, pusscutt
Okay, Remington Ranger! Bet you went to typing school before your full time job as Executive Assistant for your Lady Boss in the El Paso County Jail. Trump lick ass.
Madmike anytime fatty whitee. Without a gun you are nothing! Nothing! You know it weakling mfer. Anytime.
I eagerly await you arrival. Make sure your will is up to date. Oh, that’s right, you are an unemployed POS!
Okay, Annie Oakley. Make sure you don’t shoot yourself in the foot!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Let’s see. The Senate, House of Representatives, the Presidency ALL Democrats!!! That’s Democrats 3(three)–Republican Trumpies 0(zero)😂🤩😂🤩😂🤩😉😉😉
That’s what clinton had back in 84 but nothing happened. Same here too. Even if biden wakes up.
Let’s see. President Clinton was a 2 termer. Whereas Trump is a one term Reject. Nothing like a Loud Mouth Reject losing his job after claiming he would be elected by Landslide. Like Trump said to The Georgia Secretary of State when he begged for votes…”fellas, give me a break…!
No matter how you slice and dice things. Democrats are the BIG winners. And Trumpies the Losers. Tough Tittie, Trumpies. You gambled and you LOST!! See ya! Wouldn’t wanna be ya!!!
Democrats ARE BIG WINNERS!!!!! All they way!!!!!
They blew the girl out and they ran like like cowards!!! Cowards like trump. They are gone! They didn’t fight . Weaklings! Lol. Bluffing mfers. Classic white folk.
Now let’s move forward to 1-7-2021. Democrats in control all the way!!!!
Hey Trumpies. Did you think this Election would turn out any other way??? Yeah, sorry but you were dead WRONG. Build a big bonfire in your backyard and throw all your Trump hats and flags into the fire because your dreams of another 4 years of the Trump Shit Show have gone down in FLAMES!! Go ahead and cry in your beers all you want, you were stupid enough to believe in this Psychopath. So only blame yourselves.
NEWS
DEVELOPING: UTAH MAN INVOLVED IN VIOLENT PROTESTS IN UTAH THIS SPRING WAS IN D.C & STORMED THE CAPITOL AMID VIOLENT PROTESTS
His most often used hashtags: #blm #antifa #burn #fuckthesystem #abolishthepolice #fucktrump
AND….?? Does that justify the sacking of the Capitol?? This guy you mention is a nobody. But TRUMP, the president of the United States urging his Trumpies to sack the Capitol is beyond any Crime he has committed before. BRING ON THE 25th Amendment and get RID OF THIS PSYCHO.
AND by the way…I am in agreement with this guy you mention… FUCK TRUMP!!!
“Orchestrating a Mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable,” Bill Barr, former Attorney General criticizing Trump for his role in the sacking of the Capitol.