— Near the White House, Trump addresses supporters he had summoned to Washington to stop the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
— Meanwhile, hundreds also assemble on the Capitol lawn, more than a mile away.
As President Trump railed against the election results from a stage near the White House, his loyalists were already gathering at the Capitol.
We reconstructed how that rally gave way to a violent mob that forced the evacuation of Congress.
— Near the White House, Trump addresses supporters he had summoned to Washington to stop the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
— Meanwhile, hundreds also assemble on the Capitol lawn, more than a mile away.
— During Trump’s speech, he tells the crowd to walk to the Capitol. “You have to show strength,” he says.
— Supporters leave for the Capitol even before the speech ends.
— Pipe bombs are found at the RNC and DNC headquarters.
— Trump’s speech continues.
— A crowd at the Capitol overwhelms police and breaks through barricades.
— Police in riot gear arrive to help control the crowd.
— Inside, the proceedings to certify the Electoral College vote begin.
— Trump’s speech ends.
— Outside the Capitol, the rioters’ clash with the police escalates.
— Inside the Senate, Ted Cruz argues that the Electoral College votes from Arizona should not be certified.
— The final barrier on the west side of the Capitol is breached.
— The building is surrounded by the mob.
— Inside, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema urges her colleagues to “reject this meritless challenge and uphold the will of Arizona’s voters.”
— Rioters break into the Capitol.
— As the mob nears the Senate, it is called into recess.
— Rioters face off with police just feet from the entrance to the Senate chamber. Senators are still milling about inside.
— The House goes into recess after the break-in.
— The crowd grows outside as attendees from Trump’s rally continue to arrive.
— Police officers are dragged and beaten.
— Three hours pass before the building is declared secure.
More from Politics
This idea - that elections should translate into policy - is not wrong at all. But political science can help explain why it's not working this way. There are three main explanations: 1. mandates are constructed, not automatic, 2. party asymmetry, 3. partisan conpetition 1/
First, party/policy mandates from elections are far from self-executing in our system. Work on mandates from Dahl to Ellis and Kirk on the history of the mandate to mine on its role in post-Nixon politics, to Peterson Grossback and Stimson all emphasize that this link is... 2/
Created deliberately and isn't always persuasive. Others have to convinced that the election meant a particular thing for it to work in a legislative context. I theorized in the immediate period of after the 2020 election that this was part of why Repubs signed on to ...3/
Trump's demonstrably false fraud nonsense - it derailed an emerging mandate news cycle. Winners of elections get what they get - institutional control - but can't expect much beyond that unless the perception of an election mandate takes hold. And it didn't. 4/
Let's turn to the legislation element of this. There's just an asymmetry in terms of passing a relief bill. Republicans are presumably less motivated to get some kind of deal passed. Democrats are more likely to want to do *something.* 5/
I\u2019m sorry it\u2019s just insane that Democrats are like, \u201cwe won everything and our opening position on relief is $1.9T\u201d and Republicans are like, \u201cwe lost and our opening position is $600B,\u201d and the media will be like, \u201cDemocrats say they want unity but reject this bipartisan deal.\u201d
— Meredith Shiner (@meredithshiner) January 31, 2021
First, party/policy mandates from elections are far from self-executing in our system. Work on mandates from Dahl to Ellis and Kirk on the history of the mandate to mine on its role in post-Nixon politics, to Peterson Grossback and Stimson all emphasize that this link is... 2/
Created deliberately and isn't always persuasive. Others have to convinced that the election meant a particular thing for it to work in a legislative context. I theorized in the immediate period of after the 2020 election that this was part of why Repubs signed on to ...3/
Trump's demonstrably false fraud nonsense - it derailed an emerging mandate news cycle. Winners of elections get what they get - institutional control - but can't expect much beyond that unless the perception of an election mandate takes hold. And it didn't. 4/
Let's turn to the legislation element of this. There's just an asymmetry in terms of passing a relief bill. Republicans are presumably less motivated to get some kind of deal passed. Democrats are more likely to want to do *something.* 5/
