"Disgraceful scenes": World leaders condemn chaos at U.S. Capitol

[demmiblue]

Source: Axios

World leaders reacted with horror after a pro-Trump mob assaulted American democracy and the peaceful transfer of power by storming the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, as lawmakers were attempting to certify President-elect Biden's victory in November.

Why it matters: The U.S. government is typically a leading voice in condemning political violence all over the world.
What they're saying

German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "These images made me furious and also sad, and I'm quite sure I feel like most friends of the United States, like millions of people who admire America's democratic tradition. And I regret very much that President Trump since November has not conceded his defeat, and not yesterday either."

French President Emmanuel Macron: "When, in one of the world's oldest democracies, supporters of an outgoing president take up arms to challenge the legitimate results of an election, that one idea — that of 'one person, one vote' — is undermined."

Read more: https://www.axios.com/world-leaders-us-capitol-mob-572b4f78-fdad-4e4a-bedb-d5b5d6257727.html

[yaesu]

1. I'm surprised the fascists don't want to impeach tRump just to keep him from running for office

again because tRump is going to do massive damage to the fascists & the country after getting the boot.

[IsItJustMe]

2. Respect for the USA has disappeared and is replaced by the fear of an unstable banana republic that

has a large military with lots of nukes. Sad

[sandensea]

3. Argentina's Fernandez - who defeated Trump pal Macri - was among the 1st in the region to back Biden

We express our condemnation of the serious acts of violence and the assault on Congress that occurred today in Washington DC.

We trust that there will be a peaceful transition that respects the popular will, and we express our strongest support for President-elect Joe Biden.

Link to tweet

.

Besides a fair amount of ideological affinity (though Fernández is more along Bernie Sanders' line), he was no doubt also recalling the many times right-wing forces overthrew - or attempted to overthrow - elected administrations in Argentina since 1930.

Six coups between 1930 and 1976, and numerous attempted coups - the last in 1990.

Since 1990, right-wingers have instead used Big Media (the Clarín Group, especially) and astro-turf protests to destabilize administrations they opposed.

The authoritarian right can be relentless - not least because they enjoy backing from (some) Big Business sectors. Argentina is just a more extreme example of what can happen when they get their way.