The capital damage inflicted upon democracy by the Capitol siege is symptomatic of a deeper malady and the proverbial tip of the iceberg. It is really astonishing that the police and intelligence agencies of New York City failed to anticipate such an unprecedented and unfortunate incident that was hanging in the air for a quite few days. It is now revealed that bureaucracy and intelligence agencies had some input regarding such a possible flare up but they did not take any pre-emptive action. Trump delivered an inflammatory speech in the morning of the day of catastrophe, challenging the electoral outcome, and it was clear by then that some serious trouble was in the offing.
There was no difference between Trump and Vice President Mike Pence till the last. It was common knowledge in the corridors of power that Mike Pence had no guts to stand up to Trump and he had been hanging around the Oval Office uninvited for all his term as Vice President. Pence changed his stance only after he had no option but to convene the meeting of the Senate and certify the victory of Biden much against the will of Trump.
Trump had been pressurizing Pence not to facilitate the certification of the victory of Biden. Pence took legal opinion which clearly said that he could not do so. Thereafter, he had no option but to convene the meeting of the Senate and certify the victory of Biden. It became clear after Pence tweeted the legal opinion. This turn of events enraged Trump and the Republican supporters ran after the blood of Pence and placards with slogans “Hang Mike Pence” were flaunted at the Capitol Hill.
Pence could have broken down but he didn’t and saved his place in history. In the process, he lost the constituency of voters in the Republican Party and his chances of running for presidency as a Republican candidate. It is noticeable that only a few Republican Senators supported the impeachment of Trump. Democrats wanted to impeach Trump so as to seal his chances of running for presidency for the second term in 2024. The number of Republican senators increased from five to ten in the second impeachment. However, no Republican senator was vocal in condemning Trump and his supporters save and except Liz Cheney, who said that there had “never been a greater betrayal.” It goes to the credit of Pence that he did not cave in to the pressure of Democrats either and refused to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump a few days before the completion of his term as the provision empowers him to remove the President on the grounds of ill health or infirmity alone.
It is really a cause of concern that Trump and his team explored the possibility of turning down the popular verdict till the end and almost all the Republicans stood by him. It is also indicative of the conviction of a large number of Republican Senators and supporters that there was some sort of rigging in elections. It does not bear well for democracy in America. It is also a bad omen for democracy across the world that social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have developed such a clout that they can lock the account of a person like President of America at will. Just imagine what they can do to the freedom of speech of a common man. The time has come that a proper mechanism should be put in place to control these social media platforms, otherwise they could wreck havoc on popular mandate.
The controversy is not going to die down easily as Trump supporters have vowed to continue their fight in hundreds of conversations on a range of internet platforms other than Facebook and Twitter. Also, the alternative social media platforms like Signal would gain in popularity in due course of time because of these developments.
The American establishment will have to examine the support base of the hardliners as well as the causes of their dissatisfaction with the system. The uneducated American youth who leave studies after schooling find it hard to compete with educated immigrants and feel that these immigrants snatch their job opportunities. So, they demand the abolition of birthright citizenship for immigrants. Somehow and somewhere the White Race superiority syndrome also works. These issues may be debatable but they need to be addressed to. The policy of open arms welcome for those immigrants who are in distress or persecuted is good, but many of them come to America in search of a quality life and discretion need to be applied in such cases.
Let us hope and pray that this storm passes off peacefully and the transition takes place smoothly. It is necessary for democracy all over the world.
The author is the Registrar of Vinoba Bhave University in Hazaribag. The views expressed by the author are his own.