Joe Biden has the experience to be a wise president of the United States and leader of the free world

Today the presidency of Donald Trump will end and that of Joe Biden will begin.

In an extraordinary, and very ugly, break from precedent Mr Trump will not be present at the inauguration of his successor.

His refusal to attend is not merely juvenile but vengeful, and — worse — vengeful without any reason to be.

Mr Biden won the US election narrowly yet also clearly and with a bigger vote by far than any other presidential candidate. All court challenges to the result have failed.

Mr Trump had good reason to be disappointed that he too won more votes than any other pre 2020 presidential contender yet still failed to win the contest. But he went beyond natural disappointment and fuelled conspiracy theories about a stolen election that led on November 6 to the storming of Washington DC’s Capitol Building (the US parliament).

Mitch McConnell, the Republican Party speaker of the US senate, who has rarely criticised Mr Trump since 2016, issued a devastating verdict on the president’s conduct yesterday.

He said: “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”

Those words were a sign that Mr Trump is seen by his most powerful Republican Party colleagues to be in disgrace.

It is a tragedy on so many levels.

There was huge goodwill towards Mr Trump, not only in America but in friendly countries around the world, including in Northern Ireland. Scores of millions of people put their trust in him to address concerns about cultural, political, military and economic threats to the western, free world.

He had real achievements too, at home and abroad. But a character flaw marred his presidency from start to finish.

Now the baton passes to Mr Biden, and the burden of leadership will fall on his shoulders. He is a highly experienced politician and, it is to be hoped, will be a wise leader.

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor