In defeat, a picture of equanimity

In defeat, a picture of equanimity | Daily Tribune

On Monday, 6 January 2025, the US Congress formally certified Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, paving the way for Trump’s inauguration on 20 January as the 47th US President.

Outside the Capitol, a snowstorm dumped over six inches of snow across Washington D.C., while the joint session of the House and the Senate certifying the President-elect’s victory in the November 2024 polls took place inside the seat of the US Congress.

The ritual, presided over by Trump’s defeated electoral rival, Kamala Harris in the vice president’s ceremonial role as Senate president, was peaceful and went like clockwork, in sharp contrast to the violent incident on 6 January 2021 when a pro-Trump mob, egged on by lies that then presidential electoral winner Joe Biden had stolen the election, rampaged through the Capitol, leaving five people dead and scores wounded, including over 170 police officers.

Giving a speech on the floor before the certification proceedings, Democratic minority leader Senator Chuck Schumer of New York recounted the 6 January 2021 incident involving the mob’s wild attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.

Schumer warned Trump against pardoning those who criminally assaulted the police during that incident, saying it “would be a dangerous endorsement of political violence; it is wrong, it is reckless, and would be an insult to the memory of those who died that day.”

Last Monday, no hint of violence or any sort of mayhem was evident as a stoic Vice President Harris oversaw the roll call of the states, handing off certificates of each state’s electoral votes for Trump and herself.

In a video posted on social media as she made her way earlier to the Capitol to preside over the certification of her electoral defeat to Trump, Harris said her job was “a sacred obligation,” one that she will “uphold guided by love of country, loyalty to the Constitution, and my unwavering faith in the American people.”

Later, she gaveled the joint session inside the Capitol to order, and the proceedings went smoothly as lawmakers comprised of top Republicans and Democrats from the Senate Rules Committee and the Committee on House Administration read out the electoral votes.

Harris was calm, her expression neutral while the chamber reacted as the votes were read.

Reading out the votes, the lawmakers referred to Harris as “Madam President,” as is the traditional custom when addressing the leader of the Senate.

Finally, the total votes were announced, 312 for Trump and 226 for Harris, certifying the Republican presidential candidate’s victory over his rival.

The Vice President spoke in the third person as she announced, “Kamala D. Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes,” to loud applause by the Democrats in the chamber.

Then, Republicans stood to applaud and cheer as Harris read her electoral foe’s final tally.

Speaking with reporters after the proceedings, Harris stressed that her carrying out of her role in the process was vitally important to upholding American democracy and the peaceful transfer of power.

“Today,” she said, “I did what I have done my entire career, which is to take seriously the oath I have taken many times to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

“Today,” the Vice President continued, “America’s democracy stood.”

Meanwhile, posting on social media, Trump’s former vice presidential mate, Mike Pence, who was the recipient of death threats when he presided over the certification of the 2020 presidential election which saw Biden defeating Trump, praised the “return of order and civility” to Monday’s proceedings at the Capitol.

To the man who, to this day, continues to falsely claim that his defeat in the 2020 election was a result of widespread fraud and had warned, until he defeated Harris in the last election, that he would again be cheated out of victory, Pence offered his “most sincere congratulations and prayers.”

He then praised Vice President Harris whom he said was “particularly admirable” for presiding over the certification of an election she lost with equanimity.