Elections

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Capitol Riot FalloutLatest UpdatesInside the SiegeVisual TimelineNotable ArrestsCapitol Police in CrisisAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe Three Types of Republicans Donald Trump CreatedNever Trumpers, the unlikeliest group of “RINOs” and Trump loyalists are fighting for the future of the party.Mark Brnovich, the Arizona attorney general, unexpectedly found himself branded a Republican in name only, or RINO.Credit…Bob Christie/Associated PressJan. 21, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ETDonald J. Trump departed the White House on Wednesday and left a Republican Party turned upside down.Many Republicans tried not to let Mr. Trump change things, vowing never to vote for him or work in his administration — and to publicly shame those who did. Others bit their tongues and looked past his erratic behavior and racial grievances, justifying their indifference by pointing to the conservative policies he championed.And there were others — comprising the most vocal segment of elected Republicans and a considerable portion of the voters who helped Mr. Trump win 10 million more votes than he did in 2016 — who are still with him, defying every last-straw prediction about the end of the iron grip Trump has on the G.O.P.Here is a taxonomy of the types of Republicans Mr. Trump leaves in his wake.Never TrumpersThey wrote open letters, boycotted the Republican National Convention twice, started podcasts and websites and raised millions of dollars for their efforts to defeat him.The prospect of a Trump presidency was always unsettling to some Republicans who feared that his high self-regard and his nonchalance about the limits of political power were a recipe for disaster. But as his term wore on, this group came to include some surprising names like George Conway, whose wife, Kellyanne Conway, was one of the strategists who helped run Mr. Trump’s first campaign and remained loyal to him until the end of his presidency.Mr. Conway found company with other Republicans whom the Trump wing of the party branded as “establishment” — a pejorative that recalled their work for previous presidential nominees like Senators John McCain and Mitt Romney. And their group, the Lincoln Project, worked for the past two years to convince Republican voters that Mr. Trump was a stain on their party.The New ‘RINOs’The term RINO used to mean “Republican in name only,” and it’s not a description that anyone was likely to use for Mark Brnovich, the conservative attorney general of Arizona.That was before Mr. Trump and his loyalists redefined the term to mean any party official who dared to cross him.Mr. Brnovich is a former Maricopa County prosecutor who has fought for Arizonans’ right to attend church during the pandemic and argued against relaxing rules for casting absentee ballots. Still, he drew the ire of Trump supporters when he made what he thought were two entirely reasonable decisions as his state’s chief law enforcement officer.First, after investigating complaints about ballots that were supposedly ruined by bleeding marker ink, a conspiracy theory that became known as “Sharpie-gate” in the right-wing media, he determined there was nothing to it. Then, Mr. Brnovich refused to sign onto a far-fetched lawsuit by the state of Texas that called on the Supreme Court to throw out millions of votes in four swing states, including Arizona.“It’s as simple as this,” Mr. Brnovich said in an interview. “It’s about the rule of law, not the rule of political expediency.”Mr. Brnovich is not alone. Politicians whose names were once synonymous with the party’s hard right are now ridiculed as spineless and soft by Mr. Trump’s most faithful followers because they did not support his efforts to push state legislatures and Congress to declare Mr. Trump the winner.In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger are now being targeted for defeat by Trump loyalists after Mr. Trump attacked them for refusing to go along with him.Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, daughter of the former vice president and liberal arch-villain Dick Cheney, now faces a challenge to her leadership post in the House Republican conference for her impeachment vote against Mr. Trump. Vice President Mike Pence, who has been so loyal to Mr. Trump that his critics mocked him as a subservient yes man, was attacked as a traitor by people who called for his execution after he refused to interfere with the formal certification of the election.After four years of keeping most of their disagreements with Mr. Trump private, a growing number of Republicans have taken a stand against the nominal leader of their party. And they say they worry about setting a precedent for elected officials to disregard the law if it suits them politically.Attorney General Dave Yost at a Republican Party event in Columbus, Ohio.Credit…Tony Dejak/Associated Press“I’m very concerned that we’re using the sophisticated and subtle tools of the law to bend what should not be bent in a direction we find politically preferable,” said Dave Yost, the attorney general of Ohio. As office holders whose power over the electoral process is significant though often overlooked, Mr. Yost said that officials like him “have to accept that there are constraints on their preferred outcomes.”Like Mr. Brnovich in Arizona, Mr. Yost was one of only seven Republican state attorneys general who did not join an amicus brief in support of the ill-fated case brought by their colleague in Texas, Ken Paxton. They were among the small but pivotal minority of state and local office holders whose opposition helped thwart Mr. Trump and the Republicans who aided him in an attempt to deny Joseph R. Biden Jr. his victory.The system held, but just barely.A makeshift memorial for Brian Sicknick, a U.S. Capitol Police officer who was fatally injured when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building.Credit…Anna Moneymaker for The New York TimesTrump RepublicansNowhere was Mr. Trump’s hold on Republican lawmakers as evident as it was in Washington on Jan. 6 at the demonstrations leading up to the storming of the Capitol. Republican state legislators from Missouri, West Virginia, Tennessee and other states were among those who gathered to cheer on Mr. Trump. Mr. Paxton, the Texas attorney general, was also there.In one episode that many Republicans said was especially troubling, a political arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, known as the Rule of Law Defense Fund, paid for a robocall before Jan. 6 that called on “patriots like you” to “march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal.”The existence of the call, which several Republican attorneys general have since disavowed and said they were unaware of, underscored the extent to which Mr. Trump’s die-hard supporters were leaning on elected officials to support his spurious fraud claims. Two people with direct knowledge of tense discussions that took place among the attorneys general after word of the call leaked said that a donor had demanded it and made a contribution contingent upon its release..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-c7gg1r{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:0.875rem;line-height:0.875rem;margin-bottom:15px;color:#121212 !important;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-c7gg1r{font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:0.9375rem;}}.css-rqynmc{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:1.25rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-rqynmc{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-rqynmc strong{font-weight:600;}.css-rqynmc em{font-style:italic;}.css-yoay6m{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-yoay6m{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}.css-16ed7iq{width:100%;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;padding:10px 0;background-color:white;}.css-pmm6ed{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}.css-pmm6ed > :not(:first-child){margin-left:5px;}.css-5gimkt{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.8125rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.03em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.03em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.03em;letter-spacing:0.03em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#333;}.css-5gimkt:after{content:’Collapse’;}.css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;-webkit-transform:rotate(180deg);-ms-transform:rotate(180deg);transform:rotate(180deg);}.css-eb027h{max-height:5000px;-webkit-transition:max-height 0.5s ease;transition:max-height 0.5s ease;}.css-6mllg9{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;position:relative;opacity:0;}.css-6mllg9:before{content:”;background-image:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent,#ffffff);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(270deg,rgba(255,255,255,0),#ffffff);height:80px;width:100%;position:absolute;bottom:0px;pointer-events:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.css-1amoy78{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1amoy78{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-1amoy78:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-k9atqk{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-k9atqk strong{font-weight:700;}.css-k9atqk em{font-style:italic;}.css-k9atqk a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ccd9e3;}.css-k9atqk a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ddd;}.css-k9atqk a:hover{border-bottom:none;}Capitol Riot FalloutFrom Riot to ImpeachmentThe riot inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, followed a rally at which President Trump made an inflammatory speech to his supporters, questioning the results of the election. Here’s a look at what happened and the ongoing fallout:As this video shows, poor planning and a restive crowd encouraged by President Trump set the stage for the riot.A two hour period was crucial to turning the rally into the riot.Several Trump administration officials, including cabinet members Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao, announced that they were stepping down as a result of the riot.Federal prosecutors have charged more than 70 people, including some who appeared in viral photos and videos of the riot. Officials expect to eventually charge hundreds of others.The House voted to impeach the president on charges of “inciting an insurrection” that led to the rampage by his supporters.“We’ve come to a point where there are so many individuals with great wealth who will support even the most fringe ideas and candidates,” said Richard F. Holt, a Republican who has raised money for presidential candidates dating back to Richard Nixon.“Now just about anybody, no matter how far out, can come up with half a million dollars,” Mr. Holt said. Party leaders and major donors now see threats that Republicans could face from obscure but well-funded candidates whose primary motivation for seeking office is that they are aggrieved over Mr. Trump’s defeat.Geoffrey Kabaservice, a historian and the author of “Rule and Ruin,” which documents the waning influence of moderates in the Republican Party, said that while the far right had always been an important constituency for Republicans in elections, its power was usually diluted by mainstream influences. But that is much less the case today.“The Republican Party needed those people at the grass roots so it could win,” Mr. Kabaservice said. “But it also knew it needed to keep those people under control so it could attract some moderate, business-friendly people.”“And that’s fallen apart,” he added.Who Wins?The future of the party isn’t the Never Trumpers; they abandoned ship. It’s the war between the New RINOs and the Trump Republicans.The anger and vitriol directed at lawmakers who broke with Mr. Trump has left few willing to speak up on even the most seemingly straightforward matters.After Mr. Brnovich declined to challenge the Arizona results, commenters on far-right message boards said that he had destroyed any hope of a future in the Republican Party.One Republican state legislator claimed to have secured $500,000 from a donor to fund an investigation of her own into Arizona’s ballots and also vowed to hinder the attorney general’s office in future election investigations by stripping it of the necessary funding.Alex Jones, the far-right purveyor of disinformation, showed up at a rally in Maricopa County and warned of “another 1776” if Mr. Trump weren’t declared the winner.Trump supporters listening to Alex Jones, a far-right radio host, at a protest in November outside the Maricopa County recorder’s office in Phoenix.Credit…Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York TimesAt the Capitol riot, Trump supporters urging Congress to overrule the 81 million Americans who had voted for Mr. Biden were waving the yellow Gadsden flag — once a ubiquitous sight at Tea Party rallies where conservatives railed against government tyranny.Mr. Brnovich said he couldn’t get past the hypocrisy of it. “We all claim that we’re federalists, and we don’t want overreach,” he said, adding in reference to his fellow Republican attorneys general: “I don’t know why anyone thought it would be a good idea to get involved in a federal election. It’s a stupid idea.”Mr. Yost, the Ohio attorney general, initially opposed Mr. Trump in 2016 but eventually got past his misgivings for the sake of party unity. Now, he said, he is still thinking about the consequences of the robocall before the riot.“There’s a guy named Brian Sicknick — he’s dead,” Mr. Yost said, referring to the Capitol Police officer who died after being hit in the head when the pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol. “I don’t know who swung that fire extinguisher, but I lie awake at night wondering whether or not it was one of the people who got that call.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

Former US presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton spoke together at the inauguration of Joe Biden and underlined the importance of a peaceful transfer of power. 
The former leaders highlighted the importance of listening to people with different opinions and recognising our common humanity More

It goes without saying that Wednesday’s smooth, benignly star-studded inauguration for Joe Biden was a startling change of pace for Washington – the stark, horrifying images of teargas and Maga rioters storming the nation’s Capitol two weeks ago replaced with masked celebrities, odes to American diversity, and earnest, if likely unreciprocated, calls for healing. Capping this secure (thanks to nearly 25,000 national guardsmen), surprisingly smooth event was the 90-minute celebrity extravaganza known as Celebrating America, a collection of musical performances, tributes to America’s essential workers, and nods to better days ahead that played like a technically competent, mostly seamless Zoom telethon for unity.The special benefitted from perhaps the perfect choice as host: Tom Hanks, the beloved everyman actor and one of the few cultural figures on whom most Americans can agree (and also the celebrity whose coronavirus diagnosis on 11 March 2020 was, for many, the moment the direness of the pandemic really sank in). In front of the Lincoln Memorial, the actor most associated with bone-deep decency and ordinary heroism held together a staccato and still-surreal pandemic mix of socially distanced live footage and desktop webcam aesthetics.[embedded content]The evening was ostensibly, in title and structure, intended to honor such Hanksian heroism on the national stage; the zippy 90 minutes was delineated by category of American hero – those who, as title cards spelled out, “feed us” (food pantry workers, farmers), care for us (nurses and medical professionals), teach us (teachers), supply us (delivery workers), among others – represented by single private citizens from around the country.Ordinary heroism quickly bowed to celebrity culture, however, as each hero introduced musical performances, some live and some pre-taped, that cut across generation and genre: Bruce Springsteen, a cringeworthy rendition of Here Comes the Sun by Bon Jovi in Miami, the Foo Fighters coming for your throat with hope for the future, Justin Timberlake doing his Memphis thing with Better alongside Ant Clemons, Katy Perry closing the evening with Firework to some admittedly impressive fireworks over DC. The more successful performances leaned into the heady emotions of the day: anticipation (John Legend’s beautiful take on Feelin’ Good), grief (Yolanda Adams’s performance of Hallelujah, soundtracking a recap of nationwide memorials to the 400,000 Americans now lost to the coronavirus), joyful silliness (Broadway singers hamming it up in a virtual collaboration with the energy of your cousin jumping into the Zoom call two mimosas deep).[embedded content]Still, the cumulative effect of several bland to outright cringingly hollow performances (specifically, Tim McGraw and Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard’s duet on the colorblind country dud Undivided) gave the evening the feel of a come-down from a previous high. Celebrity tributes to American resilience from Eva Longoria and Lin-Manuel Miranda, brief addresses from Biden and the vice-president, Kamala Harris, that hit all the requisite notes, and an almost endearingly awkward riff on peaceful transfers of power from Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Barack Obama (standing 6ft apart) peppered the evening with gestures of lost stability and hope. But Celebrating America felt less like a party than a denouement from the day’s earlier celebrations, especially the youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman’s unassailable performance – a parade of good intentions back to the ordinariness of performing American optimism, albeit with social distancing protocols and celebrity webcams.But if I come across as a grouch about this show, it’s only because I’m thrilled to have a bar for national celebrations and observance of presidential power that is not below the ground. After four years of a presidency that ignored basic science, elevated white supremacy and plunged the turbo-charged news cycle to ridiculous depths of stupidity, to suffer blandness feels like a blessing. To begrudge a little corniness, celebrity, or a slightly awkward performance? A luxury. The stakes in Celebrating America felt soothingly low, at worst annoying, sometimes silly, never sinister – not perfect, but beyond welcome. More

This article is more than 1 year old ‘This is democracy’s day’: Biden sworn in as 46th president of the United States This article is more than 1 year old Millions watch inauguration from home as chief justice administers oath of office at Capitol, two weeks after mob riot Joe Biden sworn in as president […] More

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Biden AdministrationliveLatest UpdatesBiden Takes OfficePandemic Response17 Executive Orders SignedAdvertisementContinue reading the main storyBiden Kicks Off Term With Executive Orders and Prime-Time CelebrationClyburn says Bush told him he was ‘the savior’ for endorsing Biden.Jan. 20, 2021, 10:33 p.m. ETJan. 20, 2021, 10:33 p.m. ETRepresentative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina chatted with former President George W. Bush before the inaugural ceremony on Wednesday and took a selfie.Credit…Pool photo by Patrick SemanskyFormer President George W. Bush, visiting Washington to attend President Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, privately told Representative James E. Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina, that the congressman was “the savior” for helping Mr. Biden secure the Democratic nomination and defeat President Donald J. Trump.“George Bush said to me today, he said, ‘You know, you’re the savior, because if you had not nominated Joe Biden, we would not be having this transfer of power today,” Mr. Clyburn told reporters on a call after the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday. Mr. Clyburn’s endorsement of Mr. Biden in the Democratic primary in South Carolina in February was credited with rescuing a campaign that had faltered badly in Iowa and New Hampshire.“He said to me that Joe Biden was the only one who could have defeated the incumbent president,” said Mr. Clyburn, who chatted with Mr. Bush on the inaugural platform before the ceremony and took a selfie with the former president.Mr. Bush’s office did not dispute the comment but characterized it more as simple political analysis, not a statement of gratitude to Mr. Clyburn for saving the country from another term of Mr. Trump in the White House.“This has been a bit overhyped,” said Freddy Ford, Mr. Bush’s chief of staff. “President Bush was acknowledging the congressman’s role in saving President Biden’s candidacy — nothing more, nothing biblical.”Mr. Bush is no fan of Mr. Trump, who beat his brother Jeb Bush for the Republican nomination in 2016. That fall, the former president voted for “none of the above” rather than casting a ballot for Mr. Trump; his father, former President George Bush, voted for Hillary Clinton; his mother, Barbara Bush, wrote in Jeb’s name. The younger George Bush has not said publicly who he voted for in November, but few who know him think he voted for Mr. Trump.At Mr. Trump’s swearing-in ceremony in January 2017, Mr. Bush was so struck by the new president’s dark Inaugural Address that he told Mrs. Clinton, “That was some weird [expletive].” He has since remained mostly silent, but his occasional public comments have been interpreted as rebukes of Mr. Trump’s approach to leadership.Mr. Bush not only attended Mr. Biden’s inaugural ceremony on Wednesday but also traveled afterward to Arlington National Cemetery with the new president along with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. He also taped a segment with Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama showed on television Wednesday night sending best wishes to Mr. Biden.“Mr. President, I’m pulling for your success,” Mr. Bush said in the video. “Your success is our country’s success. God bless you.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Biden AdministrationliveLatest UpdatesBiden Takes Office17 Executive Orders SignedU.S. Rejoins Paris AgreementAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTrump Departs Vowing, ‘We Will Be Back in Some Form’Defeated and twice impeached, the 45th president used his farewell remarks before a sparse crowd to brag about his record and wish luck to the incoming administration.“Goodbye, we love you, we will be back in some form,” Donald J. Trump told supporters in his final hours as president on Wednesday.Credit…Pete Marovich for The New York TimesJan. 20, 2021Updated 9:30 p.m. ETJOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — President Donald J. Trump left Washington aboard Air Force One for a final time on Wednesday, the iconic plane creeping along the runway so the liftoff was timed to the closing strains of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”In many ways, Mr. Trump’s last hours as president were a bookend to the kickoff of his presidential campaign in June 2015. As he did then, he tossed aside prepared remarks that aides had helped draft and spoke off the cuff, having them take down teleprompters they had set up. As he did then, he spent hours focused on the visual aspects of the scene where he would speak at the end of a calamitous final three months that capped a tumultuous term.Before departing for Florida, Mr. Trump — defeated at the polls, twice impeached, silenced by social media platforms and facing an array of legal and financial problems — laid down a marker about his future, telling the roughly 300 supporters who greeted him on the windy tarmac, several holding American flags, that they had not seen the last of him.“Goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form,” Mr. Trump vowed, with the first lady, Melania Trump, by his side in sunglasses and a black outfit. He has yet to say what that form will take, but people who know him said he remained bitter that congressional Republicans had joined in rebuke of his speech at a Jan. 6 rally that incited his supporters to storm the Capitol.He at one point delivered an understated line: “We were not a regular administration.”Nonetheless, he performed more regularly in his farewell remarks than at almost any other moment since the Nov. 3. election. He thanked members of Congress with whom he worked, as well as Vice President Mike Pence, whose unwillingness to join in Mr. Trump’s baseless effort to halt Congress’s certification of President Biden’s victory led to a deep rift between them.Aides carrying boxes out of the White House on Wednesday morning.Credit…Anna Moneymaker for The New York TimesMr. Pence and the two Republican leaders in Congress skipped Mr. Trump’s departure and later attended Mr. Biden’s inaugural. Mr. Trump did not mention Mr. Biden, but for the first time he wished “great luck and great success” to the incoming administration. (A draft of Mr. Trump’s prepared remarks had included a space suggesting he acknowledge Mr. Biden, but were bracketed in case he did not, according to a person who saw them.)He did find time to note his own vote total.And he tried to claim credit for what he suggested would be a string of strong economic news in the coming months. “Remember us when you see these things happening, if you would,” he said.He similarly sought to promote his record in helping accelerate development of vaccines for the coronavirus. “It really is a great achievement,” he said.At different points, Mr. Trump seemed as close to becoming emotional as he had throughout his four years in office. He talked about the families who had suffered from the coronavirus throughout the last year.It was the first time in two weeks that Mr. Trump had addressed the public in person. He stayed mostly out of sight since election night, save for the incendiary speech he delivered to supporters on Jan. 6 urging them to march on the Capitol in an effort to deny Mr. Biden’s victory.His remarks were riddled with falsehoods and factual errors, boasts about his time in office and demands for credit, including his oft-repeated but exaggerated claim that he had rescued veterans from poor treatment. There were also awkward moments, like when he told his supporters, “Have a good life.” He offered a less acid version of his brand of partisanship, save for a few moments. “I hope they don’t raise your taxes,” he said, “but if they do, I told you so.”The Biden AdministrationLive Updates: Inauguration Live UpdatesUpdated Jan. 20, 2021, 10:06 p.m. ETTrump extends Secret Service protection for his children, cabinet secretaries and chief of staff.A boy who bonded with Biden over stuttering will write a children’s book.Michael Ellis, a Trump appointee at the N.S.A. who was sworn in on Tuesday, has been placed on leave.He praised his family and said people did not understand “how hard” they worked.Before the sun rose, officials had constructed a stage adorned with stars-and-stripes bunting, a lectern and a microphone for the president. A military band rehearsed “Hail to the Chief” shortly after 7 a.m.For several minutes, military aides measured the precise length of the red carpet that Mr. Trump was set to walk to the steps connecting to Air Force One, which was brought out around 6:30. Aides hoisted garment bags filled with the first family’s belongings into the forward cabin.A large space was built for an audience that the White House had invited to see the president off. But for a man obsessed with crowd size, only about 300 people showed up, filling roughly a third of the standing area.Mr. Trump took his final ride aboard Marine One. As the helicopter took him away from the White House, it diverted from its normal route and circled the Capitol.Credit…Jason Andrew for The New York TimesFor several days, aides had tried to corral officials to come to the departure, and to bring guests. But several who remained working until the president’s final day in office said they were worn out and deeply angry over his behavior since Election Day, as he spread falsehoods about the race being stolen from him, overshadowing whatever substantive achievements they might remember. Some of his aides who had been with him the longest said they did not even watch the send-off on television.Others wanted to steer clear of Washington in its current quasi-militarized state. And still others left the city before the new administration came in, returning to their home states.Mr. Trump, who often thought about winning but never truly contemplated the presidency before Nov. 8, 2016, began the morning telling advisers he wanted to add one last pardon to the lengthy list of clemency grants he had issued early Wednesday morning, prompting a scramble to make it happen. This one was for Albert J. Pirro Jr., the former husband of a longtime friend, Jeanine Pirro, a Fox News host. Mr. Trump has known the Pirros for more than 25 years, and White House officials said Ms. Pirro let the president know she was deeply unhappy that he had not received one. To the surprise of some of his own aides, he left a note for Mr. Biden in the Oval Office, although its contents remained undisclosed. Mr. Trump left the White House for a final time around 8:20 a.m., stopping briefly to talk to reporters before stepping onto Marine One. He described the presidency as the “honor” of his life.Then he and the first lady boarded the helicopter, taking their last ride as the rest of the Trump family met them at the send-off. The helicopter diverted from its normal route and circled around the Capitol, where two weeks earlier his supporters had chanted about hanging Mr. Pence, vowed to help Mr. Trump remain in office and set off chaos and violence that led to his second impeachment.When he arrived at the air base, a military band played “Hail to the Chief” and he was given a 21-gun salute, lending his farewell the militaristic patina he craved throughout his presidency. But during the event, his typical rally soundtrack played. When he finished his remarks, he stepped off the stage to the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” before heading to the red carpet leading to Air Force One.The plane then crept along the runway to “My Way,” a cinematic departure for a president who once wanted to be a Hollywood producer. On the flight, Mr. Trump stayed cloistered at the front of the plane with his family, who, like him, have never experienced the effect of a political loss.The route from the airport to Mr. Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, was lined with supporters waving flags.Credit…Pete Marovich for The New York TimesWhen the plane touched down in Palm Beach, Fla., a crowd of about 20 supporters greeted the president. He waved, but did not stop to talk to anyone before climbing into an S.U.V.The route from the airport to his private club, Mar-a-Lago, was lined with people waving flags, some weeping as he passed. Around 11:30 a.m., Mr. Trump was whisked inside the gates of the Mar-a-Lago compound, leaving behind the press corps that was assigned to cover him for four years. Mr. Pirro’s pardon was announced around that time.Mr. Trump had another 30 minutes left of his presidency, but he had said all he was going to say.Patricia Mazzei More

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Biden AdministrationliveLatest UpdatesBiden Takes Office17 Executive Orders SignedU.S. Rejoins Paris AgreementAdvertisementContinue reading the main storyOpinionSupported byContinue reading the main storyBiden Can Heal What Trump BrokeNow that Mr. Trump is finally out of office, President Biden has the chance to lead America forward.Mr. Wegman is a member of the editorial board.Jan. 20, 2021Credit…Jason Andrew for The New York TimesFor a long time, Jan. 20, 2021, seemed like a day that might never come. It sat there far down the calendar, a tantalizing hint of a moment when America might at last be freed from the grip of the meanest, most corrupt and most incompetent presidency in the nation’s history.The countdown was measured first in weeks, then in days, then hours and minutes, as though Americans were anticipating the arrival of a new year. In this case, it was not just the intense desire of more than 81 million Americans to turn the page on an abominable administration, but a legitimate fear of what Donald Trump could do while still in power, especially without the constant distraction of his Twitter feed. (Seriously, what does he do without Twitter?)In the end, Jan. 20 arrived right on schedule, a cold, blustery Wednesday morning in the nation’s capital. There was no crowd on the National Mall this time, only a smattering of guests in carefully spaced folding chairs, in front of a vast field of flags. At 10 minutes to noon, Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to Joe Biden. Mr. Biden’s swearing-in as the 46th president, and Kamala Harris’s swearing-in as the first female vice president — both standing on the very spot that Trump-incited rioters had stormed two weeks earlier — was the best possible rebuke of that dark day.If the violent and hateful swarm that descended on the Capitol on Jan. 6 represented some of the worst of America, those on the stage on Wednesday represented some of the best — like the Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, whose quick thinking helped divert the mob and probably saved lives.“Democracy is fragile,” President Biden said in his inaugural remarks. “And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.”The new president appealed to “the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity. Without unity, there is no peace. Only bitterness and fury. No nation, only a state of chaos.”He invoked the words of Abraham Lincoln on signing the Emancipation Proclamation more than 150 years ago. “My whole soul is in this,” Mr. Biden repeated.Near the end of his speech, Mr. Biden called for a moment of silence to honor the memory of the more than 400,000 Americans who have died so far in the coronavirus pandemic. The request was remarkable only because it was the first time in nearly a year that the nation’s leader has evinced a genuine empathy for the grief, pain and loss millions of Americans have endured.One thing Mr. Biden did not say: his predecessor’s name. Under normal circumstances, that would be the height of disrespect. But it was the appropriate send-off for Mr. Trump, who was not in attendance anyway. He had skipped town hours earlier, a sulking, childish coward to the end. It was a final failure in a four-year string of failures to perform the most basic tasks of the office he held.Mr. Trump acted as though he were the first person in history to lose a presidential election. But of course every presidential election has a loser. Until Wednesday, outgoing presidents had handed over the reins of power with grace and public spirit. The few who declined to attend their successor’s inauguration, like Andrew Johnson (who was also impeached), did not spread lies about the legitimacy of their opponent’s victory. Many presidents knew they were ceding the office to someone who would take the country in a different direction. They did it anyway, not because it was easy, but precisely because it was hard — because they valued the American ideal more than their own ego.The Biden AdministrationLive Updates: Inauguration Live UpdatesUpdated Jan. 20, 2021, 10:06 p.m. ETTrump extends Secret Service protection for his children, cabinet secretaries and chief of staff.A boy who bonded with Biden over stuttering will write a children’s book.Michael Ellis, a Trump appointee at the N.S.A. who was sworn in on Tuesday, has been placed on leave.Mr. Trump instead pawned off the job on his vice president, Mike Pence, whose presence on the stage was all the more notable given that he had debased himself faithfully at his boss’s foot for four years, only to be rewarded with a mob, egged on by that boss, calling for his execution.Mr. Trump leaves office as the most disgraced, and most disgraceful, president in history. He divided and exhausted the country. He abused his office to the final possible moment, rescinding his own 2017 order barring lobbying by former White House employees. (Surprise: He never intended to drain the swamp.) And he doled out last-minute pardons to friends and allies like Steve Bannon, his former campaign manager, who faced federal fraud charges for bilking Mr. Trump’s own supporters out of cash that he claimed was going to help build the long-promised border wall.Mr. Trump holds another distinction: the first president to be impeached twice. This time, he might even be convicted by the Senate. Either way, Congress must ensure that he can never hold office again. Once he has faced political accountability, he must face the other types of accountability he has avoided throughout his life — financial, social and, potentially, criminal.Even though Mr. Trump is gone from office, the trauma he inflicted on the nation remains. So do at least 74 million people who voted for him, and who aren’t going anywhere. Living under Mr. Trump’s malfeasance and mismanagement for four years was made all the more upsetting with the knowledge that so many Americans watched it all happen and decided they wanted even more.There will be time to figure out how a nation so deeply divided against itself can come together and heal. However that may happen, it won’t be by forgetting Mr. Trump’s abuses, or who was complicit in them. Nor will it happen by ignoring the profound problems — from economic inequality to systemic racism to social-media disinformation peddlers — that brought us to this wretched place.Mr. Biden cannot solve these problems by himself, but he is well aware of the gravity of the situation, and of the hurdles that await. He enters office with the barest possible Senate majority and a thin margin in the House. His legislative agenda will run up against a Supreme Court that Republicans have stolen and stacked with the most hard-line conservatives in a century — justices who are out of step with the majority of Americans, but who will have the final word on interpreting the nation’s Constitution and laws for decades to come.Now, however, it’s worth pausing and celebrating what America achieved in electing Mr. Biden. It is not a magically different nation than it was the day before he was sworn in, but the simple fact that America is now being led by a decent, experienced public servant who cares about improving his constituents’ lives is a big deal. It’s no small feat to vote a corrupt authoritarian out of power. The American people did it; they earned this day. The inauguration of a new president is the crowning ritual of self-government.In his closing remarks Wednesday, Mr. Biden asked whether future generations would be able to say of this one, “They healed a broken land.” With Mr. Biden in charge, the nation has a chance to begin that healing. He deserves our profoundest wishes of good luck and Godspeed. He, and America, will need it.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: [email protected] The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

#masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘They Have Not Legitimately Won’: Pro-Trump Media Keeps the Disinformation FlowingOne America News, a Trump favorite, didn’t show its viewers President Biden’s swearing in or his inaugural address.Credit…Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesJan. 20, 2021Updated 8:22 p.m. ETForgoing any appeals for healing or reflection, right-wing media organizations that spread former President Donald J. Trump’s distortions about the 2020 election continued on Wednesday to push conspiracy theories about large-scale fraud, with some predicting more political conflict in the months ahead.The coverage struck a discordant tone, with pro-Trump media and President Biden in a jarring split screen: There was the new president delivering an inaugural address of unity and hope, while his political opponents used their powerful media platforms to rally a resistance against him based on falsehoods and fabrications.For some outlets, like One America News, it was as if Mr. Biden weren’t president at all. The network, a favorite of Mr. Trump’s because of its sycophantic coverage, didn’t show its viewers Mr. Biden’s swearing in or his inaugural address.Rush Limbaugh, broadcasting his weekday radio show a few miles from the Palm Beach retreat where Mr. Trump is spending the first days of his post-presidency, told his millions of listeners on Wednesday that the inauguration of Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris did not make them the rightful winners of the election.“They have not legitimately won yet,” Mr. Limbaugh said, noting that he would be on “thin ice” for making such a claim. He then gave his listeners a false and inflated vote total for Mr. Trump and predicted the Democratic victories would be “fleeting.”“I think they know, with 74 million, maybe 80 million people who didn’t vote for Joe Biden, there is no way they can honestly say to themselves that they represent the power base in the country,” Mr. Limbaugh said.On One America News, viewers saw a lengthy documentary-style segment called “Trump: Legacy of a Patriot” instead of the inauguration. One of the network’s commentators, Pearson Sharp, provided the voice-over and offered only flattering words about the former president while he leveled false claims about voter fraud.Mr. Sharp repeated many of the discredited excuses that have formed the alternate version of events that Mr. Trump and his followers are using to explain his loss. The host claimed, for instance, that Mr. Trump couldn’t have been defeated because he won the bellwether state of Ohio and carried so many more counties than Mr. Biden did. “And yet somehow we’re still expected to believe that Joe Biden got more votes than any president in history,” Mr. Sharp said.Then he issued a rallying cry to Trump supporters. “Now it’s up to the American people to continue President Trump’s fight, or all the progress we’ve made as a nation will quickly unravel,” Mr. Sharp said.OAN personalities were also offering viewers an optimistic vision of a Republican Party that would live on in Mr. Trump’s image. The network’s White House correspondent, Chanel Rion, described Mr. Trump’s farewell remarks from Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday morning as “a temporary goodbye.”“The fight has only just begun,” she said.One OAN anchor discussed the possibility that Mr. Trump could form his own political party and call it the Patriot Party, an idea that other Trump allies have started floating. And there was talk on the network of Ivanka Trump, the former president’s daughter, challenging Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, when he is up for re-election in 2022.On Newsmax TV, another pro-Trump channel, commentators and guests appeared to be in less denial than their competitors on OAN. But they were no less dismissive of the new president. One questioned Mr. Biden’s appointment of a transgender woman to his cabinet and called the heavy presence of troops in Washington to prevent another uprising of Trump supporters an effort “to further suppress the voice of the American people.”A Newsmax anchor mockingly pointed out the presence of Mr. Biden’s son Hunter, whose personal troubles and business interests became a distraction for his father’s campaign after conservative media outlets published unverified stories about his work in China. “That doesn’t go away,” the anchor said.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More