A little more than a week ago, most Americans – perhaps even many of Donald Trump’s supporters – were ready for the 45th president and his administration to pass into the history books. Now Trump is making us all live through history. On 6 January, the US Capitol was sacked by a pro-Trump mob, the first large-scale occupation of the citadel of American democracy since the British burned it during the War of 1812. The mob succeeded in forcing.
Betsy DeVos (right), who has resigned after the US Capitol violence. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
In the 16th century, mice and rats were credited with knowing when a rotten house was on the verge of collapse.
This evolved into the idiom about fleeing a sinking ship, but the original version suggested more prescience, an ability to anticipate oblivion and get out ahead of time.
The question hovering over the officials quitting the White House is whether they have left it too late, whether they will carry the Donald Trump stain no matter how fast they run.
The education secretary, Betsy DeVos, the transport secretary, Elaine Chao, and the deputy national security adviser, Matt Pottinger, are among at least a dozen officials and aides who have resigned since a mob of the president’s supporters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday, leading to five deaths, including that of a police officer.
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‘I don’t for a second buy the argument that if Bernie Sanders had been the Democratic nominee, he would have won a smashing victory against Trump and swept in a Senate majority.’ Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
‘I don’t for a second buy the argument that if Bernie Sanders had been the Democratic nominee, he would have won a smashing victory against Trump and swept in a Senate majority.’ Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images