We begin on Friday, January 8th, President Trump announces that he will not attend Joe Biden’s inauguration, writing on Twitter, "To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”
That would end up being his last tweet as later, on Friday, Twitter bans President Trump from its platform, saying in a statement that the president’s account was permanently suspended “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Facebook, which had banned Trump earlier, said that his account will be taken down “at least” until the end of his term on January 20th.
Twitter decided that because Trump isn’t going to go to inauguration it was a signal that Trump feels the election is not legitimate and that it would encourage his supporters to commit further acts of violence.
Saturday, January 9th, in the wake of Trump’s ban from social media, multiple media outlets report that Vice President Pence plans to attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration to symbolize the peaceful transfer of power.
Sunday, January 10th, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gives Vice President Pence 24 hours to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from Office before moving forward with an impeachment vote.
Monday, January 11th, House Democrats introduce an impeachment article, alleging that President Trump incited an insurrection against the U.S. government.Meanwhile, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf resigns from his post, citing the recent riot in the U.S. Capitol building.
Tuesday, January 12th, President Trump travels down to Alamo, Texas to champion the accomplishment of completing more than 450 miles of border wall with Mexico, harkening back to a 2016 campaign promise. In his remarks, he briefly addresses the 25th Amendment, his ban from social media, and free speech online.
Wednesday, January 13th, Donald Trump becomes the first president to be impeached twice after the House votes on the article of impeachment of “incitement of insurrection,” 232-197. Ten Republicans voted to impeach the president, including Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who is the No. 3 in GOP House leadership.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responds to the House impeaching Trump by saying he would not call for an emergency session before January 19th to proceed with a quick Senate trial.
Meanwhile, President Trump releases a statement, urging “that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind.”
Later, the White House’s Twitter account posts a brief address from President Trump in which he condemns the rioters.
With only hours remaining in his presidency, it's clear that any Senate trial moving forward on Trump's second impeachment might have more support from a Republican party that has been eager to get rid of Trumpism. If convicted, Trump will be disqualified from holding public office in the future, ruling out a potential 2024 run. If that holds true, the GOP risks splitting apart further, even to the point of creating a formidable third party.
