News: "The president wanted this and is enjoying it"

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

"The president wanted this and is enjoying it"

Pro-Trump insurgents storm the US Capitol; Democrats win both Senate elections in Georgia.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Cameron Peters and Benjamin Rosenberg.

TOP NEWS

Pro-Trump insurrectionists disrupt electoral vote certification

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Pro-Trump insurgents stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday as Congress met to count and certify the Electoral College votes, forcing lawmakers, staff, and reporters to evacuate the building to an undisclosed secure location. [Vox / Sean Collins and Zack Beauchamp]
Reports indicate that at least some of the rioters were armed, and explosive devices were discovered on US Capitol grounds, as well as at the Washington, DC, headquarters of the Democratic and Republican National Committee buildings. [Twitter / Ana Cabrera]
At least one person died after being shot by law enforcement, and a 12-hour curfew has been imposed in DC, beginning at 6 pm Eastern time. [NBC News / Allan Smith, Ginger Gibson, Daniel Arkin, and Pete Williams]
The violence followed a Wednesday morning speech by Trump in which he repeated debunked election fraud claims and told his supporters to "walk down Pennsylvania Ave [to the Capitol] … to give our Republicans — the weak ones because the strong ones don't need any of our help — we're to try and get them kind of pride and boldness they need to take back our country." [Twitter / Aaron Rupar]
Trump's actions since the Capitol was stormed, including multiple tweets and a video, have elicited fresh calls for his impeachment and removal from office. At least one Congress member, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), told NBC she is already drawing up articles of impeachment. [Twitter / Kyle Griffin]
President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20, also addressed the nation on short notice Wednesday. He called on Trump to deescalate the violence and "demand an end to this siege." [Vox / Aaron Rupar]
The US Capitol wasn't the only government building targeted Wednesday. In Arizona, Georgia, Oregon, and elsewhere, pro-Trump militias demonstrated against the electoral vote certification. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who has publicly pushed back against Trump's demands to overturn the election results, required a police escort to leave the Georgia Capitol. [NYT / Mike Baker, Sean Keenan, Kathleen Gray, and Shawn Hubler]
As of Wednesday evening, however, the US Capitol has been secured, according to the House sergeant at arms. [Twitter / Matt Fuller]
Ultimately, the unrest Wednesday will do nothing to block the certification of Biden's victory. According to House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, Congress will reconvene Wednesday night to resume the certification process. [Twitter / Abby D. Phillip]

Democrats sweep the Georgia Senate runoffs

Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have won their US Senate runoff elections in Georgia, giving the Democratic Party control of the chamber. Each party will have 50 seats in the Senate, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris giving Democrats the tiebreaking vote. [Vox / Ella Nilsen]
Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, will be Georgia's first Black senator. He defeated Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who replaced the resigning Johnny Isakson last January, in a special election. [CNN / Alex Rogers]
Ossoff's win was narrower, but Vox's partner Decision Desk HQ called the race early Wednesday morning. By defeating David Perdue, Ossoff, 33, will become the youngest Democrat elected to the Senate since Joe Biden in 1972. [Vox / Ella Nilsen]
The Democrats benefited from strong voter turnout, particularly among Black voters. In predominantly Black precincts, which tend to break heavily Democratic, turnout stood at better than 90 percent of general election levels last year. [Vox / Dylan Scott]
Once President-elect Biden takes office on January 20, Democrats will have control of the White House and both houses of Congress for the first time since the first two years of Barack Obama's administration, giving Biden's agenda a much greater chance of succeeding. [CNBC / Jacob Pramuk]
The first priority for the Senate's new Democratic majority will be Covid-19 stimulus relief. The Republican-controlled Senate blocked a proposal for $2,000 stimulus checks last month, despite support from both House Democrats and President Donald Trump. [Vox / Emily Stewart]
Senate Democrats will also have the opportunity to expand health care, building on the Affordable Care Act. The Democrats are likely to try to expand eligibility for Obamacare, and may give Medicare more power to negotiate prescription drug prices. [Vox / Dylan Scott]

MISCELLANEOUS

President-elect Biden plans to nominate Judge Merrick Garland, who was denied a hearing after Barack Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court in 2016, as his attorney general.

[Politico / Tyler Pager, Josh Gerstein, and Kyle Cheney]

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US's top infectious disease expert, said the country could soon be able to administer 1 million Covid-19 vaccine doses per day despite a slow initial rollout. [The Hill / Tal Axelrod]
China stepped up its crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong Tuesday, arresting more than 50 people under a new national security law passed last year. [Vox / Jen Kirby]
A team from the World Health Organization was denied entry to China, where they were planning to study the origins of the SARS-Cov-2 virus that causes Covid-19. [AP / Jamey Keaten]

VERBATIM

"The other day, because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick somebody else's cotton went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States Senator."

[Rev. Raphael Warnock, declaring victory after being elected Georgia's first Black US senator]