TRUMP'S INSURRECTION AND ATTEMPTED COUP
A DAY OF INFAMY
JANUARY 6, 2021
A DAY OF INFAMY
JANUARY 6, 2021
On January 6, 2021, the U.S. Congress met in a joint session of the House and Senate to publicly count the electoral college votes and confirm Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.
In one last grandstand effort to attempt to illegitimately overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, Trump persuaded the republican members of the House and the Senate, who continued to support his false claims that the election was fraudulent and that he had won, to challenge the certification of the electoral college votes in six states that Joe Biden had won. The electoral college votes of the six states to be challenged were Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. In addition, Trump put pressure on Vice-president Pence, who was to preside at the ceremonial counting of the electoral college votes, to violate the constitution and unilaterally overturn the electoral college votes in the six contested states.
In an effort to increase the pressure on Pence and his Republican supporters in the House and the Senate, on December 30, 2020, Trump sent out a tweet calling on his ultra-right-wing supporters, who believed his false claims about the election, to come to Washington on January 6 and protest against the certification of Joe Biden as president. With this, the final elements of an insurrection and potential overthrow of a free democratic election were all in place. All of this was instigated by Trump, the incumbent president of the United States, who refused to accept the fact that he has lost the 2020 presidential election.
The final provocation for Trump’s insurrection took place at a rally of his protesters outside the White House on January 6, 2021. In his remarks to the crowd of protesters gathered at the White House Trump repeated his false and baseless claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. Firing up the crowd, he said, “our county has had enough. We will not take it anymore.” He urged them to fight, “We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” Trump told the crowd that “you’ll never take back your country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.” The protesters were further incited to violence by the remarks of Rudolph Giuliani who called for a “trial by combat,” against the Democrats. Donald Trump Jr, the president’s son, threatened the Republican members of congress with the words, “We’re coming for you” if they did not overturn the election. Trump then urged the protesters to march to the Capitol to give the Republicans “the kind of pride and boldness that they needed to take back our country,” stating that he would lead them, but he did not follow through with this.
Being thoroughly excited and inflamed the angry and violent mob marched to the Capitol. They broke through the barricades guarding the Capitol grounds and worked their way up the steps of the Capitol building, which they began to climb as they chanted hateful and seditious slogans. At the very moment that the members of the House and Senate were in session beginning the certification process, the protesters overpowered the Capitol Police and broke into the inside of the Capitol building. When inside, they smashed windows and broke down doors shouting inflammatory remarks against the Democrats, particularly Nancy Pelosi, along with calls to “Hang, Mike Pence.” The seriousness of this threat was substantiated by the fact that the protesters had built a gallows outside the Capitol building. Eventually, they stormed into the House and Senate chambers; but, fortunately, not before the House and Senate members had been evacuated and led to safety in a more secure part of the Capitol. There they remained for a couple of hours until the Capitol Police eventually were able to remove the protesters from inside the Capitol building.
When the Capitol was secured, the House and Senate returned to the business of certifying the election of Joe Biden. In spite of the opposition of a substantial number of Republicans who continued to challenge the certification of Biden’s election, Biden was officially certified as the 46th president of the United States in the early hours of the morning of January 7, 2021. The insurrection and the coup had been defeated, but not before 5 lives were lost. The Republicans who supported Trump’s lies about election fraud and his false claim that he had won the election, as well as the Republicans who voted against certifying the election of Joe Biden, should take responsibility for their part in fostering and supporting the seditious and inflammatory claims that made this insurrection possible.
On January 13, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach president Trump on the charge of “incitement and insurrection.” The vote was 220 in favor to 197 against impeachment. Ten Republicans, along with all the Democrats, voted for impeachment. All 197 who voted against impeachment were Republicans.
RESPONSE OF THE U.S. BISHOPS
U.S. Bishops' President Condemns Violent Protest and Prays for Safety as Chaos Threatens U.S. Capitol
USCCB, January 6, 2021
USCCB, January 6, 2021
WASHINGTON: Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued the following statement in response to today's violence in the United States Capitol.
“I join people of good will in condemning the violence today at the United States Capitol. This is not who we are as Americans. I am praying for members of Congress and Capitol staff and for the police and all those working to restore order and public safety.
“The peaceful transition of power is one of the hallmarks of this great nation. In this troubling moment, we must recommit ourselves to the values and principles of our democracy and come together as one nation under God. I entrust all of us to the heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. May she guide us in the ways of peace, and obtain for us wisdom and the grace of a true patriotism and love of country.” (USSCB, January 6, 2020).
NOTICE: There is no mention of the role President Trump played in inciting the violent protest and the storming of the Capitol, nor his false claims that the election was fraudulent, nor of the president's effort to overturn a legitimate democratic election
ANOTHER CATHOLIC RESPONSE
An editorial in America Magazine on January 6, 2021, provides a more comprehensive and insightful Catholic analysis of Trump's insurrection and attempted coup. The actions of the president and the protesters at the Capitol are described as an "outrage." "It is contrary to everything this country stands for and represents a clear and present danger to the constitutional order of this country. This attempt to disrupt and destroy the democratic process should be repugnant to the hearts of all Americans and must be denounced from every platform and pulpit in the country."
The editorial goes on to point out that president Trump, with his lies about the election being fraudulent and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, was the main cause of the insurrection and the violence of the protesters. The editorial also maintains that those Christians, and I would add specifically Catholics, who believed the lies of the president and who supported his efforts to overturn the election are complicit in Trump's insurrection and failed coup. In the words of the article, "The harm to the credibility of the Christian witness is deep and will be long-lasting. Christian leaders, the U.S. Catholic bishops among them, must clearly condemn this misuse of faith. And all Christians should repent for the ways that we have allowed the symbols of the Christian faith to be drafted into Mr. Trump’s service." (America Magazine.)
The editorial goes on to point out that president Trump, with his lies about the election being fraudulent and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, was the main cause of the insurrection and the violence of the protesters. The editorial also maintains that those Christians, and I would add specifically Catholics, who believed the lies of the president and who supported his efforts to overturn the election are complicit in Trump's insurrection and failed coup. In the words of the article, "The harm to the credibility of the Christian witness is deep and will be long-lasting. Christian leaders, the U.S. Catholic bishops among them, must clearly condemn this misuse of faith. And all Christians should repent for the ways that we have allowed the symbols of the Christian faith to be drafted into Mr. Trump’s service." (America Magazine.)
THE INAUGURATION
January 20, 2021
January 20, 2021
President Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States today and Kamala Harris was sworn in as the vice-president. The ceremony went well and was very impressive. Joe Biden’s inaugural speech was exceptional and inspiring. In spite of threats of violence, there were no protests or disturbances. Everything went smoothly.
Pope Francis sent Joe Biden a very positive and enthusiastic message of congratulations and support and wished Biden well.
Archbishop Jose Gomez, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, sent a congratulatory message to Joe Biden that was condescending, abrasive, and offensive. In his message Gomez misrepresented the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion, by identifying it with the U.S. bishops’ political strategy of the “preeminent priority” of abortion and ignoring the position of Pope Francis. He also misrepresented the Catholic Church’s teaching on religious liberty by identifying it exclusively with the notion of institutional liberty, completely ignoring the religious liberty of the conscience of the individual.
It seems that Gomez’s statement was released without a “collegial consultation” with the conference’s administrative committee. A senior Vatican official described Gomez’s statement as “most unfortunate,” and expressed concern that it could create even greater divisions in the church in the United States.” (America Magazine).
THE USCCB AND THE POLITICALIZATION OF THE GOSPEL
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has politicized the Gospel at the expense of failing to provide pastoral and theological vision for Catholics in the United States. To a great extent the cause for this is rooted in the divisions that exist among the bishops themselves. Politically, they are divided between those who actively supported the re-election of Donald Trump, including, by some, his efforts to overturn the election, and those who accept and support the election of Joe Biden. Theologically, they are divided by their rejection or acceptance of Pope Francis’ vision of reform for the Catholic Church. The bishops’ critical of Pope Francis represent a substantial majority and they have been able to effectively overrule the voices of the pro-Francis bishops who are presently in a minority. No U.S. bishop appointed by Francis has ever been elected to a top leadership position in the USCCB. The Catholic faithful in the United States are also divided on the same lines as the bishops.
The leadership of the U.S. Conference of Bishops has been guided more by political concerns than by the pastoral and ministerial needs of the faithful. In the process the bishops’ conference has lost its credibility and effectives among many Catholics in the United States. The conference is in need of a renewed ecclesial and theological vision in order to serve more effectively the spiritual and pastoral needs of Catholics in the United States today.
For a more extensive discussion of these issues, see Massimo Faggioli, “Lots of Politics, Little Legitimacy: The USCCB Needs an Ecclesial and Theological Vision,” Commonweal, January 28, 2021.
The leadership of the U.S. Conference of Bishops has been guided more by political concerns than by the pastoral and ministerial needs of the faithful. In the process the bishops’ conference has lost its credibility and effectives among many Catholics in the United States. The conference is in need of a renewed ecclesial and theological vision in order to serve more effectively the spiritual and pastoral needs of Catholics in the United States today.
For a more extensive discussion of these issues, see Massimo Faggioli, “Lots of Politics, Little Legitimacy: The USCCB Needs an Ecclesial and Theological Vision,” Commonweal, January 28, 2021.