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“important today”
A year ago today, Trump fans stormed the Capitol: what he lit is still burning
Donald Trump at the rally on January 6, just before he gives his infamous speech
© Jacquelyn Martin / DPA
“It is the memory of what, in truth, was never over: the enthusiasm for Donald Trump”. A year after the storm on the Capitol, the US correspondent Raphael Geiger looks at a deeply divided country – and sees democracy in danger.
On the morning of January 6, 2021, then US President Donald Trump speaks in front of the White House at the so-called “Save America March”. Sentences like, “We’re going to the Capitol and cheering on our brave senators and congressmen, and we’re probably not going to cheer some of them so much,” The crowd is furious, cheers him on, and Trump incites them even more. He repeats the lie that he actually won the election, not Joe Biden, the Democratic Party candidate. Immediately afterwards, hundreds of Trump fans run over the steps of the Capitol, break into the proud building, threaten the political and security personnel and produce images that go around the world.
A year later, the USA correspondent Raphael Geiger draws a shocking conclusion: “Unfortunately, we will probably have to adjust to the fact that the USA could no longer be a functioning democracy in the next election.”
“Nobody who believes in Trump will be convinced”
In the podcast “Today important”, Raphael Geiger describes a divided country that will probably move further apart before the congressional elections in November of this year. This can be seen even in the small family circle: “Half of this country, the Trump supporters, are militarizing and radicalizing themselves more and more. They see themselves in a never-ending battle that was lost with Trump’s defeat last year, but the truth always goes on. ”
The increasing militarization is also made public. At Christmas, mostly Republican families posed with guns in hand, not seen in private family albums, but on social networks such as Instagram. At least the reporter in New York fears that this could have an impact on the next elections. In any case, the results of the midterms, the midterm elections, could make governing much more difficult for President Biden – he barely holds a majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
© TVNOW / Andreas Friese
Podcast “important today”
Sure, opinionated, on the 12: “Today important” is not just a news podcast. We set topics and initiate debates – with poise and sometimes uncomfortably. This is what host Michel Abdollahi and his team speak out for star– and RTL reporters: inside with the most exciting people from politics, society and entertainment. They let all voices have their say, the quiet and the loud. Anyone who hears “important today” starts the day well informed and can have a sound say.
What Trump tried in the last election could happen in 2024
But the USA correspondent Raphael Geiger, especially with a view to the next presidential elections in 2024, raises the question of how democratic these elections will actually be. Local observers actually fear that American democracy could suffer a severe blow: “This country is so unclean with itself that I can well imagine that the next election will not be about who has the most Votes? But who, in case of doubt, threatens some election workers and thus prevents all votes from being counted. ”
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