When Donald Trump woke up on 6 January 2021, it was obvious that the day, when Congress is required by law to certify electoral votes for the presidency, would not go like any of those that had come since the passage of the 1887 Electoral Count Act.
Nineteen days earlier, he had told his more than 80 million Twitter followers to descend on Washington on the day Congress would make final his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden, writing that the day’s events would be “wild”.
