Washington DC chaos: loyalty to Trump cracks on a day that will define his presidency

The uprising at the Capitol followed two months of provocation from President Trump who has called into doubt the result of November’s election, which he lost

For the first time in four years, loyalty to Trump seemed to waver as senior Republicans have sought to distance themselves from the president’s rhetoric

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Tear gas is released into a crowd of protesters during clashes with Capitol police. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:56pm, 7 Jan 2021Updated: 3:18am, 8 Jan 2021

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Gabby Orr, Anita Kumar and Meridith McGraw on politico.com on January 7, 2021.

It was, for many of President Donald Trump’s own allies, the final straw. What began as a rally intended to support Trump became a permanent and irreversible stain on his presidency on Wednesday afternoon, as fans of the outgoing president stormed the US Capitol – shattering windows, prompting evacuations and injuring law enforcement officials in the process – to temporarily halt the certification of his opponent’s 2020 victory.

A distressing scene for many Americans watching from home, the uprising at the Capitol followed two months of provocation from Trump – subversive rhetoric about America’s election, threats against Republican figures who didn’t agree, broadsides against his own vice-president. And it followed four years of rabble-rousing by a president intent on keeping a grip on the Republican Party, resulting in a climactic moment on Wednesday that could come to define Trump’s political future and the direction of the Republican Party after he leaves office.

“He screwed his supporters, he screwed the country and now he’s screwed himself,” said a 2016 Trump campaign official, predicting his former boss would cease to remain a popular figure in Republican politics after Wednesday.

“Donald Trump caused this insurrection with lies and conspiracy theories about the election being rigged against him,” said Scott Jennings, a former aide to President George W. Bush who is close to the Trump White House. “The election was not stolen but this madness was fomented by the president and his top advisers.”

For the first time in four years, loyalty to Trump seemed to crack. Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s chief of staff and one of the longest-serving Trump aides, resigned over the incident. Another senior White House official claimed they would have stepped down if they hadn’t already departed “due to concerns about the president’s refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power”. Vermont Governor. Phil Scott, a Republican, called on the president to resign. Tom Cotton, a 2024 Republican hopeful and prominent Trump ally, said it was “past time” for the president to accept defeat.

“Every day, every person chooses to be either part of the problem or part of the solution,” said former White House assistant press secretary Austin Cantrell. “President Donald Trump and other Republican leaders should immediately denounce today’s illegal action as an affront to the American experiment of self-government and take into account the power their words have to heal or harm our Republic.”