Four years after the Capitol riot, U.S. Congress peacefully certified President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 victory, with Vice President Kamala Harris overseeing the process which confirmed her own loss.
Lee Soo-jin reports.
“The votes for President of the United States are as follows: Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes. Kamala D. Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes.”
U.S. Congress on Monday local time formally certified incoming president Donald Trump’s re-election, in a special session presided over by none other than the outgoing vice president and former presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
The peaceful and rather uneventful certification, lasting around 30 minutes, saw both Democrats and Republicans rise in a standing ovation.
It stood in stark contrast to four years ago, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an effort to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
After the ceremony this year, Harris stressed the importance of upholding American democracy.
“Today was obviously a very important day, and it was about what should be the norm and what the American people should be able to take for granted, which is that one of the most important pillars of our democracy is that there will be a peaceful transfer of power. And today, America’s democracy stood.”
Unlike Trump four years ago, Harris did not contest the results of the 2024 election,.. and graciously accepted her defeat.
Former vice president Mike Pence wrote on X that Harris overseeing the certification of an election that she lost was “particularly admirable.”
Pence at the certification ceremony in 2021, resisted intense pressure from Trump and his supporters to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The importance of democracy was also emphasized by President Biden, in a Washington Post op-ed released the day before the certification ceremony, where he wrote that Americans should be glad to not see a repeat this year of what he called a “shameful attack” and that the events of January 6, 2021 must not be forgotten.
Lee Soo-jin, Arirang News.
Source : Arirang TV, https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=279657
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