Republican senators can breathe. Donald Trump did an about-face on Tuesday and gives up giving a press conference on Thursday, exactly one year after his supporters stormed the Capitol. In a statement released Tuesday, the Republican assures us that he will speak on January 15, in a meeting already scheduled in Arizona.
????Donald Trump has apparently heard reason: he cancels his press conference in Mar-a-Lago scheduled as a counter-event on January 6 (because of the “dishonesty” of the parliamentary commission of inquiry and ” fake news media “.) pic.twitter.com/4XGtfcup3Y
– Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) January 4, 2022
He protests again against the “fraud” which according to him, and without him providing any proof, marred the last presidential election won by Joe Biden. “The crime of the century! »Writes Donald Trump, whom his Democratic opponent has beaten by seven million votes.
The ex-businessman does not provide a clear explanation for the cancellation of the press conference he was planning from his luxurious residence in Florida (south-east). He says he is giving up “in the light” of the “biased and dishonest” parliamentary commission which is investigating his role and that of his relatives in this attack which has traumatized America. The Republican also charges the media “Fake News”, one of these favorite targets.
Republican criticism
The announcement of this event, which would have coincided with a moment of meditation by the US Congress in Washington, had been received as yet another provocation by the critics of the former president. But the prospect of this speech also seemed to embarrass the Republican camp, on which Donald Trump has an immense influence, with a majority of supporters of the Conservative Party who adhere to his thesis of the “theft” of the last election.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Senator Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia). “Everyone has the right to have their opinions, but I think the country has turned the page,” added Texan John Cornyn.
“Trump’s behavior is arguably unprecedented in American history. No former president has so tried to discredit his successor and the democratic process, ”said Carl Tobias, professor of law at the University of Richmond.
Joe Biden’s speech
Donald Trump’s about-face leaves the way open to Joe Biden, who will speak Thursday from the precincts of the Capitol, where thousands of supporters of his Republican opponent tried to prevent Congress from certifying his election . “He will talk about the work that remains to be done to ensure and strengthen our democracy and our institutions, to reject the hatred and lies that we saw on January 6, to unite the country,” his spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Tuesday. .
Since his election, Joe Biden seems reluctant to attack head-on the “other guy” or “the guy before” – the formulations used by the president and by the White House especially not to name the one, can – to be, it will be necessary to face again during the presidential election of 2024.
Officially, Joe Biden intends to represent himself, and the Republican, he suggests that he is thinking about it. For Lara Brown, professor of political science at George Washington University, “President and Vice President (Kamala) Harris cannot go on this ground” of direct verbal attack “because they do not want to give. the impression of a “witch hunt” “orchestrated from the White House, to use an expression dear to Donald Trump.