A print headline that took internet by storm

The scenes playing out on TV were difficult to believe. A violent mob, incited by Donald Trump, had overwhelmed the police and stormed the US Capitol, the seat of Congress (their Parliament), while it was in joint session to certify the election of Joe Biden as the next President.

They were on a rampage through the Senate and House of Representatives chambers, even the Speaker’s office, and had occupied the Vice President’s seat, while legislators who couldn’t be evacuated hid wherever they could.

It was unlike anything the world’s oldest democracy, and pre-eminent superpower, had ever witnessed. As for the rest of the world, they could only watch in shock and wonder — and in countries (such as China) that have been at the receiving end of America sermonising them on democracy, with a certain schadenfreude.

Trump had for weeks made a series of devious and dastardly attempts at overturning Biden’s legitimate victory, and this was his last-gasp assault to steal the election. This wasn’t a peaceful protest or an agitation, this was insurrection, an assault on democracy itself. And those doing his bidding were a white mob, at least one of whom could be seen waving a Confederate flag, a shameful reminder of slavery and a symbol of racism.