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“Can He Do That?” is The Washington Post’s politics podcast, exploring presidential power in the face of weakened institutions, a divided electorate and eroded political norms.
Trump incited a mob. American Democracy suffered.
The breach of the U.S. Capitol was a remarkable moment in American history. Professor Sarah Binder explains how the usually uneventful vote was expected to unfold, and reporter Philip Bump lays out the challenges a divided GOP faces in the aftermath.
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Thousands of rallygoers gathered near the White House on Wednesday morning.
They gathered there, from around the country, at the urging of President Trump, who for weeks called for his supporters to come to D.C. to protest the electoral college certification in Congress.
In the weeks since the election, Trump has repeatedly, falsely claimed the election was stolen, rigged, fraudulent. He has spent weeks instigating his supporters, marking Jan. 6 as the day for“wild” protest.
And when Jan. 6 finally arrived, at the rally near the White House, the president riled up a crowd that eventually made its way to the U.S. Capitol building.
As lawmakers inside the building were voting to certify Biden’s win, a mob wreaked havoc on the Capitol. Rioters roamed the halls and the House and Senate chambers, some carrying Confederate flags. They vandalized and rummaged through lawmakers’ offices. They assaulted police and other public servants. One tried to replace the U.S. flag flying above the balcony with a Trump campaign flag.
For hours, police struggled — and failed — to contain and disperse the mob. One rioter was shot under unclear circumstances and later died.
The scene marked a truly distressing moment for American democracy. As The Washington Post’s White House Bureau chief Philip Rucker wrote,“Never before has American democracy been so strained, the seat of representative government so imperiled and a president so at fault.”
On this week’s episode of the“Can He Do That?” podcast, George Washington University political science professor Sarah Binder explains how the usually uneventful vote was expected to unfold, and the vulnerabilities built into the process. Then, The Post’s national correspondent Philip Bump lays out the challenges a divided Republican Party faces in the aftermath of Wednesday’s chaos.
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Trump incited a mob. American Democracy suffered.
The breach of the U.S. Capitol was a remarkable moment in American history. Professor Sarah Binder explains how the usually uneventful vote was expected to unfold, and reporter Philip Bump lays out the challenges a divided GOP faces in the aftermath.
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Thousands of rallygoers gathered near the White House on Wednesday morning.
They gathered there, from around the country, at the urging of President Trump, who for weeks called for his supporters to come to D.C. to protest the electoral college certification in Congress.
In the weeks since the election, Trump has repeatedly, falsely claimed the election was stolen, rigged, fraudulent. He has spent weeks instigating his supporters, marking Jan. 6 as the day for“wild” protest.
And when Jan. 6 finally arrived, at the rally near the White House, the president riled up a crowd that eventually made its way to the U.S. Capitol building.
As lawmakers inside the building were voting to certify Biden’s win, a mob wreaked havoc on the Capitol. Rioters roamed the halls and the House and Senate chambers, some carrying Confederate flags. They vandalized and rummaged through lawmakers’ offices. They assaulted police and other public servants. One tried to replace the U.S. flag flying above the balcony with a Trump campaign flag.
For hours, police struggled — and failed — to contain and disperse the mob. One rioter was shot under unclear circumstances and later died.
The scene marked a truly distressing moment for American democracy. As The Washington Post’s White House Bureau chief Philip Rucker wrote,“Never before has American democracy been so strained, the seat of representative government so imperiled and a president so at fault.”
On this week’s episode of the“Can He Do That?” podcast, George Washington University political science professor Sarah Binder explains how the usually uneventful vote was expected to unfold, and the vulnerabilities built into the process. Then, The Post’s national correspondent Philip Bump lays out the challenges a divided Republican Party faces in the aftermath of Wednesday’s chaos.
Related reading and episodes
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