BARCELONA – In 2018, British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson suggested that President Trump could deserve the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in North Korea. But on Wednesday, Johnson, now the Conservative Prime Minister, denounced the “Shameful Scenes in the US Congress” and called for “a peaceful and orderly power transition” in Washington. He did not specify who may be preventing this, but it is obviously not the Democrats.
And that was one of the mildest expressions of dismay among leaders and commentators around the world at the spectacle of the United States Capitol overrun by an armed crowd incited to violence by the President himself, in what former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt described incredulous as “insurrection. Nothing less. In Washington. German Chancellor Angela Merkel regretted that Trump “has not acknowledged his defeat since November and not yesterday. Doubts about the outcome of the election were stirred up and created the atmosphere that made last night’s events possible. “French President Emmanuel Macron assured the world that” what happened … is definitely not American, “which many Americans would also like to believe, although they suspect the opposite may be true.
Describing the atmosphere in Paris, historian and writer Andrew Hussey said that “the French are stunned, scared too” by Wednesday’s drama, and that the French media is now portraying Trump as “not just a demagogue, what he yes, but actually like a bad man with blood on his hands. “The bizarre scenes of protesters -” the guys with long beards, the strange survivors, the Boogaloo Boys, the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters “- made Hussey realize that” Trump brought these marginal groups straight to the center to challenge American democracy. “They also worry about the possibility of a second civil war in the United States, as the cultural war that has been going on for years” has broken out – and the violence on social media has been translated into action. “
Even European political figures who had previously embraced Trump’s right-wing populism seemed to be icy cold for the man with 13 days left at the White House.
Former Brexit leader and longtime Trump supporter Nigel Farage condemned the insurgency, tweeting Wednesday night that “breaking into the Capitol is wrong. The protesters must leave. ”Marine Le Pen, of the French far-right National Rally, demanded that Trump” condemn what happened. ” A call for “all parties in the US to maintain restraint and prudence” came from the Turkish government, which under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not known for moderation in the treatment of dissent.
On the other hand, Russian politicians seemed to enjoy the chaos. “The celebration of democracy is over. Unfortunately, it hit rock bottom, and I say that without the slightest hint of rejoicing, ”said Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Russian Parliament’s Committee on International Affairs. “America is no longer charting the course and, therefore, has lost all its rights to define it. And especially to impose it on others. ”Moscow’s messages contained” perhaps a certain amount of joy, “said Felix Light of the independent Moscow Times,” that America is getting its due – as they see it – for engineering revolutions in Ukraine, Serbia, North Africa and the rest , that the shoe is now on the other side, with the revolutionary revolution coming home. ”
Trump received support from ex-legislator Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the far-right Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, who tweeted encouragement to the beleaguered American president: “Be brave, Donald. We are with you, you will have help from abroad. “
But a day after the siege of the Capitol, Trump’s favorite strongmen – Vladimir Putin of Russia and Viktor Orbán of Hungary – were silent. This did not surprise Marius Dragomir, who lives in Budapest, director of the Center for Media, Data and Society: “This type of violence was too much even for many Trump supporters in Europe.” Dragomir expects them to remain silent, although he worries that some may receive personal incentives from Trump’s blatant attempt to steal the election.
Roland Freudenstein, director of policies at the Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies in Brussels, was enthusiastic about how Congress managed to resume its work in just a few hours. The new call and unflappable demeanor of Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – all of whom insisted that counting continue – “was an important sign that the system works , the system held up “.
He sees “the beginning of something good” in the episode. Democratic principles that stand firm in the face of the challenge only strengthen them, he said.
The question of whether Trump can remain in office safely or sensibly for the remaining two weeks was raised by Freudenstein and other thinkers. “Leaving Trump with his finger on the nuclear trigger” is baffling, Freudenstein noted, although he is uncertain whether government officials have the resources, or the numbers, to invoke the 25th Amendment – which requires the approval of the vice president and the majority of the Cabinet to expel the president. “If they don’t remove him in the next few days, it will look bad,” he said, although with Trump’s promise on Thursday morning to make the rest of the transition smoother, he thinks the chances don’t favor a presidential expulsion.
Dragomir, while relieved that democratic tools like the 25th Amendment are available, fears that invoking it could trigger further violence and “make Trump a martyr to his supporters.” Then, like the rest of Europe, Dragomir is forced to count the minutes until the current White House occupant leaves. “We can’t all wait until January 20,” he said, “and that man is outside the door.”
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