Trump’s legacy—the shame and the opportunity
The invasion of the Capitol and the Democrats’ victory in Georgia will change the course of the Biden presidency
FOUR YEARS ago Donald Trump stood in front of the Capitol building to be sworn into office and promised to end “American carnage”. His term is concluding with a sitting president urging a mob to march on Congress—and then praising it after it had resorted to violence. Be in no doubt that Mr Trump is the author of this lethal attack on the heart of American democracy. His lies fed the grievance, his disregard for the constitution focused it on Congress and his demagoguery lit the fuse. Pictures of the mob storming the Capitol, gleefully broadcast in Moscow and Beijing just as they were lamented in Berlin and Paris, are the defining images of Mr Trump’s unAmerican presidency.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Trump’s legacy”
From the January 9th 2021 edition
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