US VP Kamala Harris certifies her defeat to Donald Trump 4 years submit Capitol riots

Her job was ceremonial and her remarks perfunctory. Standing on the dais, Harris handed copies of every state’s election outcomes to lawmakers, and she or he stood silently together with her palms clasped in entrance of her whereas they have been learn out loud.

When the method was completed, Harris introduced Donald Trump’s victory. She smiled tightly as Republicans gave the following president standing ovation.

“The chair declares this joint session resolved,” Harris mentioned on the finish. “Thanks.”

She shook just a few palms and kissed just a few lawmakers on the cheek earlier than departing. The complete session lasted lower than a half hour.

In a video message launched within the morning, Harris described her function as a “sacred obligation” to make sure the peaceable switch of energy.

“As we’ve seen, our democracy may be fragile,” she mentioned. “And it’s as much as every of us to face up for our most cherished rules.”

Harris joined a brief record of her predecessors who oversaw the ceremonial affirmation of their election loss as a part of their function of presiding over the Senate.

Richard Nixon did it after shedding to John F Kennedy in 1960. Al Gore adopted go well with when the US Supreme Court docket tipped the 2000 election to George W Bush.

However no different vice chairman has been holding the gavel when Congress licensed their loss to an incoming president who refused to concede a earlier defeat. Along with spreading lies about voter fraud, Trump directed his supporters to march on the US Capitol, the place they violently interrupted the proceedings on January 6, 2021, to formalise Joe Biden’s victory.

Harris was on the Democratic Nationwide Committee headquarters in Washington that day. A pipe bomb was found close by, and she or he was evacuated from the constructing.

Throughout the marketing campaign, she steadily invoked the January 6 assault to warn voters of the hazard of returning Trump to the White Home. She described him as a “petty tyrant” and “wannabe dictator.”

After Harris misplaced the election and her bid to be the nation’s first feminine president, she promised in her concession speech to honour the need of voters.

“A elementary precept of American democracy is that once we lose an election, we settle for the outcomes,” she mentioned. “That precept, as a lot as another, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny.”

No disruptions are anticipated on Monday. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump’s transition workforce and the incoming White Home press secretary, mentioned there shall be “a easy transition of energy.”

“When Kamala Harris certifies the election outcomes, President Trump will ship on his promise to serve ALL People and can unify the nation by means of success,” she mentioned in an announcement.

Leavitt didn’t reply to a query about Trump’s try to make use of the certification course of to overturn his defeat 4 years in the past. At the moment, Trump inspired his vice chairman, Mike Pence, to disqualify votes from battleground states based mostly on false allegations of fraud.

Pence refused. Trump’s supporters burst into the Capitol and halted the proceedings, forcing lawmakers to cover for his or her security. Trump posted on social media that “Mike Pence did not have the braveness to do what ought to have been completed.”

Police finally cleared the rioters from the constructing, and lawmakers reconvened to complete their certification. Scores of Republicans nonetheless voted to help challenges to the election end result.

“I had no proper to overturn the election,” Pence mentioned two years later. “And his reckless phrases endangered my household and everybody on the Capitol that day, and I do know historical past will maintain Donald Trump accountable.”

Trump confronted prison fees for making an attempt to remain in energy regardless of shedding. Nevertheless, particular counsel Jack Smith dropped the federal case towards him after Trump defeated Harris since long-standing Justice Division coverage says sitting presidents can’t face prison prosecution.

A separate case in Georgia over Trump’s makes an attempt to subvert the 2020 election is mired in controversy over the Fulton County district lawyer’s romantic relationship with a prosecutor she employed to steer the case.

The newest instance of a vice chairman certifying their very own defeat got here after the 2000 election. The battle between Gore and Bush ended up within the courtroom because the campaigns argued over whether or not Florida ought to conduct a recount.

Bush gained on the US Supreme Court docket, stopping a recount and permitting his slender victory to face.

Congress licensed the outcomes on January 6, 2001, over the objections of some Democrats.

“I rise to object to the fraudulent 25 Florida electoral votes,” Rep Maxine Waters of California mentioned on the time.

Gore slammed the gavel and requested whether or not the objection met the necessities of being “in writing and signed by a member of the Home and a senator.”

“The objection is in writing, and I do not care that it isn’t signed by a member of the Senate,” Waters responded.

“The chair will advise that the foundations do care,” Gore mentioned.

After just a few rounds of objections, Congress completed the certification.

“Could God bless our new president and new vice chairman and should God bless america of America,” Gore mentioned after asserting the outcomes.