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- The United States Congress will meet on Wednesday to certify the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.
- Some Republicans in the Senate and House have said they will oppose certification of results in at least three states, in a last-ditch bid to support President Donald Trump that is almost guaranteed to fail.
- Democrat Raphael Warnock is the expected winner of a Georgia Senate second-round race and Democrat Jon Ossoff leads the other, putting Democrats in place to take control of the chamber.
- Protesters began to converge on Washington, DC to support Trump’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
Hello, and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continued coverage of the US elections. It’s Joseph Stepansky.
Video shows Trump supporters heckling Mitt Romney in flight
A viral video shows Republican Senator Mitt Romney, one of the party president’s few vocal critics, heckled by a group of Trump supporters on a flight.
The group of Trump supporters, reportedly on their way to the protest in Washington, DC, chanted “Traitor!” Traitor! Traitor ”to Romney on the flight from Salt Lake City, Nevada to the US capital.
Romney, who criticized a Republican plot to oppose certification of the electoral college vote on Wednesday, was also approached by Trump supporters at the airport before the flight took off, videos show.
Here is a clip of allegedly Trump “patriots” harassing Senator Mitt Romney * IN FLIGHT * en route to DC.
our Republic had a decent run. pic.twitter.com/tYs16jlieI
– jd durkin (@jiveDurkey) January 6, 2021
Trump supporters gather near the White House while waiting for the president
As Congress prepares to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, thousands of people line up before sunrise to show their support for Trump’s attempts to overturn the election.
The president was due to address his supporters at an 11 a.m. (4 p.m. GMT) rally on the Ellipse, just south of the White House.
Lou Murray, a Boston-based life insurance salesman, told the Associated Press news agency that he and many others still had hopes that Congress and Vice President Mike Pence would not certify the vote.
“I hope Vice President Pence has courage today and I hope any politician who thinks he has a future will have the courage to stand up and do what is right,” he said. -he declares.
Organizers have scheduled an afternoon march to Capitol Hill, where Congress will vote to confirm the Electoral College results, which Trump continues to challenge without evidence. Prominent Trump supporters – including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his longtime ally Roger Stone – were scheduled to attend the protest.
Trump spends the morning calling on Republicans to call off election
As Democrats set for a majority in the Senate, Trump has spent his morning urging Republicans in Congress – and his vice president – to overturn the presidential election results when they meet for a joint session .
In a tweet, Trump, who has refused to concede defeat and continues to push unfounded fraud claims, said “the Republican Party and, more importantly, our country, needs the presidency more than ever” while saying “stay strong”.
States want to correct their votes, which they now know to be based on irregularities and fraud, and a corrupt process has never received legislative approval. All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the United States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is the time for extreme courage!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2021
In a tweet, Trump falsely claimed that Mike Pence could return election votes to state officials. “All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, and we win. Do it Mike, this is the time for extreme courage! he wrote.
Politifact has ruled Trump’s claims that Pence has the power to act outside of his ceremonial role on Wednesday as false. Meanwhile, Twitter has called the tweets disputed.
What to expect when Congress meets on Wednesday
The US Congress meets Wednesday to count the Electoral College votes, the final constitutional step in determining the next President of the United States in an unorthodox election season.
In more ordinary times, Wednesday’s event would be the largely ceremonial and uncontroversial culmination of a fierce campaign. This is not the case in 2020, with President Donald Trump refusing to concede defeat, a group of Republicans from both chambers plan to oppose the results in several states.
The plot is almost guaranteed to fail, as objections would require majorities in both chambers to pass. Democrats control the House and several Republicans have said they will not join their colleagues in opposing the Senate.
Trump’s pressure to have Vice President Mike Pence somehow intervene in the proceedings, which he will oversee, shouldn’t make a difference on Wednesday either, as the second-in-command didn’t the power to unilaterally overrule the result.
Read more here what to expect.
Vice President Joe Biden, with then Speaker of the House Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, right, watching, declares Congress certifies Donald Trump’s presidential victory in a joint session of Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Friday, January 6, 2017 [Cliff Owen/AP Photo]Democrats’ hopes for Senate summit in Georgia runoff
Democrat Raphael Warnock defeated Republican Kelly Loeffler in one of two U.S. Senate polls in Georgia, according to a projection by the Associated Press news agency, putting Democrats in a majority control seat in the chamber.
Meanwhile, Democratic challenger Ossoff currently leads outgoing Republican President David Perdue with around 16,000 votes, with the remaining votes to be counted to be a Democratic trend.
A Democratic sweep would ensure the party control of the White House, House of Representatives and Senate for the first two years of Biden’s administration, significantly helping the president-elect shape his administration and move his legislative agenda forward.
Kelly Loeffler, for her part, is still a member of the Senate until Warnock is sworn in and has joined a group of colleagues who plan to oppose the vote.
Learn more about the race here.
Democrat Raphael Warnock is set to become the first black senator in Georgia’s history after defeating Kelly Loeffler. [File: Mike Segar/Reuters]
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