US lawmakers have certified Joe Biden’s election victory, hours after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attack that saw four people die.
Vice President Mike Pence declared early Thursday morning that Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump, officially ending the 2020 presidential race that Trump has refused to concede and after a violent day at the U.S. Capitol.
Biden defeated Trump by 306-232 electoral votes and will be inaugurated Jan. 20.
Pence also announced that Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) was the winner of the vice presidency.
Pence officially declared Biden the winner at 3:41 a.m. EST.
The conclusion capped unprecedented hours of chaos and rare violence in the halls of Congress after a mob stormed the Capitol to disrupt what is normally a largely symbolic proceeding to formalize the presidential results.
Pence had been whisked away to safety and lawmakers evacuated the House and Senate chambers when the security perimeter was breached Wednesday afternoon. People waving Trump flags were seen knocking down police barriers around the Capitol and walking through halls normally reserved for lawmakers and tourists.
One woman was shot by police, while three others died as a result of “medical emergencies”, officials said.
The mob, which had been encouraged by President Trump, stormed the building in a bid to overturn the election result, suspending a Congress session.
The president-elect blasted the “insurrection”.
President Donald Trump later called on them to “go home” while continuing to make false claims of electoral fraud. Twitter and Facebook later froze his accounts.
US Vice-President Mike Pence started the resumed session on Wednesday evening, in which lawmakers are counting and confirming electoral votes, saying it had been a “dark day in the history of the United States Capitol”.
Some Republican lawmakers’ objections to overturn the result in Arizona and Pennsylvania were rejected. The session confirmed Mr Biden’s 306 votes to Mr Trump’s 232.
The rampage came as two Democrats won Senate seats in elections in Georgia, which shifted the balance of Congress to their party’s effective political control, aiding the passage of Mr Biden’s agenda after he is inaugurated on 20 January.
