Trump finally concedes in desperate attempt to avoid impeachment

Donald Trump on Thursday finally conceded the 2020 election, making the comment in a video he posted to his Twitter account that was filled with lies and revisionist history.

“Now Congress has certified the results,” Trump said in the video. “A new administration will be inaugurated on Jan. 20.”

Trump’s concession came 61 days after the race had been called for President-elect Joe Biden — time that Trump spent spewing lies about voter fraud, filing lawsuits to overturn the election results, and pressuring members of Congress to simply refuse to accept the results of the Electoral College.

All of those efforts failed.

However, in the process, Trump radicalized his supporters into believing the election was stolen from them and incited his most fervent backers to riot at the United States Capitol.

As Congress set to formally certify the Electoral College results Wednesday, a mob of his supporters broke into the United States Capitol in a violent riot that left five people dead — including a Capitol Police officer, whose death was announced shortly before Trump posted his concession video.

In the video, Trump disavowed the riot he incited and claimed that he “immediately deployed the National Guard” to secure the Capitol building, where members of Congress and the hundreds of staff and reporters who work within it were hiding as the violent Trump mob ransacked the property.

But according to reports, Trump repeatedly refused to call in the National Guard to secure the building, leading Mike Pence to ultimately make the call.

“To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country,” Trump said in the video.

However, in two separate videos he posted on Wednesday, which were subsequently removed by Twitter, he had a different message.

“We love you. You’re very special,” Trump said in the first.

“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long,” he said in the second video.

Those videos earned Trump a 12-hour suspension from Twitter for violating its policy against inciting violence.

Ultimately, Democrats are once again threatening to impeach and remove Trump from office for the event, saying his fomenting of what many are calling a terror attack on Capitol Hill makes him dangerous and unfit to carry out the duties of office.

A total of 130 House Democrats have said they support impeaching Trump, according to a tally compiled jointly by Daily Kos Elections and the American Independent Foundation. Many senators, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have also said that Trump must be removed from office immediately, either by the the Cabinet invoking the 25th Amendment or by impeachment.

Even some Republicans are speaking out.

Multiple members of Trump’s administration resigned in protest. And the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board — a conservative group that has defended Trump and rationalized his behavior for years — called on Trump to resign for his behavior.

It’s possible that pressure is what caused Trump to finally admit defeat.

But it’s unlikely that his video will quell the calls for his ouster, especially given the ominous ending of his video.

“To all of my wonderful supporters, I know you are disappointed,” he said. “But I also want you to know that our incredible journey is only just beginning.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.