After the U.S. Capitol came under siege by a group of Trump supporters, president-elect Joe Biden got in front of a microphone like he was Bill Pullman in the middle of an alien invasion and attempted to unify the country and urge the restoration of some semblance of peace. But instead of a rousing call about the indomitable American spirit, a subdued Biden led with the kind of disappointed tone reserved for errant children who accidentally hurt themselves because they didn’t heed the warnings of their parents.
Biden’s tone bordered on disgust as he talked about the “unprecedented assault” taking place at the Capitol. Biden also accused outgoing president Trump of inciting the “siege” to begin with and called on him to go live on national television and call for its end. Trump responded with a pre-recorded video on Twitter telling the rioters, “we love you,” and that it was time to go home.Meanwhile, as Biden continued to chastise the country, he also tried to inspire some degree of hope by quoting Abraham Lincoln and reminding citizens that there is a way through the darkness. Biden ended his speech by asking Trump to “step up” and blessing the American people. But in an unexpected turn, as he was walking off stage, Biden dropped the docile disappointed dad act and went full Don’t Make Me Go Back There when he responded to reporters asking if he feared for the inauguration with a firm no and an enthusiastic, “Enough is enough is enough.”
Well said, Joseph. [USA Today]
There was some good news today as Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff won their elections today, flipping Georgia blue and ensuring a Democrat-controlled Senate. This means Kelly Loeffler will have to go back to being a much-hated basketball team owner who loves private planes and David Perdue will go back to doing whatever it is he does. With any luck, no one will ever hear from these people again and Georgians can continue to live their lives unmolested by two harbingers of death. [New York Times]
- Mitt Romney is losing his popularity amongst the Republican masses. [NPR]
- Merrick Garland will finally and literally have his day in court after Biden appointed Garland as his choice for US Attorney General. [CNN]
- Mike Pence sides with logic and says he cannot single-handedly overturn the results of the presidential election. [New York Post]
- Governor Cuomo will not be attending a Buffalo Bills game in person even though he bought tickets to do exactly that. [New York Post]
- Freshman congresswoman Cori Bush is introducing a resolution to investigate and potentially remove any member of Congress who may have incited riots at the Capitol. [Twitter]
- Who let Henry Winkler have a Twitter account and why? [Twitter]