US Congress confirms Donald Trump's victory in presidential election

 Tight security measures in place on Capitol Hill as electoral votes are counted for confirmation

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Washington (UrduPoint News Today- International Press Agency. January 7, 2025) The US Congress has confirmed Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election in a special session, after which he will be sworn in for a second four-year term in the White House in two weeks.

According to the American broadcaster, Trump will serve a second term. Previously, he won the 2016 election and became president, but Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 presidential election and went to the White House for a four-year term. Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris had admitted her defeat after the results of the November elections were completed last year and said in a video message that a peaceful transfer of power is her sacred duty and responsibility.

The official Electoral College vote count from Congress is a mechanism for the electoral process, but in 2021, as Congress was verifying Joe Biden’s victory, a mob stormed Capitol Hill, alleging election fraud, which caused the verification process to be suspended for several hours. Thousands of people broke into the Capitol building and about 140 police officers were injured in the attack.

Then-Vice President and Senate President Mike Pence refused to comply with Trump’s demand to take up the issue of vote rigging in tight states. Law enforcement agencies controlled the riots and evacuated Capitol Hill within hours, and Congress, under Mike Pence’s presidency, completed the verification process of Joe Biden as president, in which then-President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were defeated.

President Biden, speaking at the White House a day earlier, described the January 6, 2021, riots as one of the most difficult days in American history, saying that we must now return to a fundamental and common transition of power. The Justice Department says that nearly 1,600 people have been convicted and tried for crimes related to the riots on Capitol Hill four years ago, many of whom received short to long sentences.

Most of those sentenced to short terms have completed their sentences, while those sentenced to long terms are still in prison. In a statement, Trump has described those serving prison terms as hostages and patriots. He has also said that he plans to release many of those arrested and sentenced within hours of his inauguration on January 20, but he did not elaborate further. Tight security arrangements were made on Capitol Hill for the counting of electoral votes to confirm the president, although no riots were expected.