Workers and Oppressed: Mobilize against the Right-Wing Extremists! But No Support for Biden!

 

Statement by the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 7 January 2021, www.thecommunists.net

 

 

 

1.            A rally of tens of thousands of Trump supporters in Washington DC on 6 January resulted in the storming of the Capitol by a small group of right-wing extremists. Several hundred fascists and semi-fascists broke police lines and occupied the building – where the Congress (consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate) meets – for several hours. Lawmakers, including Vice-President Mike Pence, had to be evacuated in haste. According to latest news reports, four people died and 52 were arrested. Smaller protests were also hold by Trump supporters in front of capitols in various states.

 

2.            The assault on the Capitol was the result of Trumps numerous efforts to suppress the election result of 3 November. Despite a clear electoral victory of Biden by a margin of 7 million votes and 306-232 in the Electoral College, Trump pressurized – without success – state governors, courts, and his Vice-President – to overrule the electoral results so that he can continue his presidency. The assault on the Capitol was probably the last attempt of his desperate supporters to keep Trump in power. Nevertheless, Biden’s victory has been certified in a joint session of Congress a few hours ago.

 

3.            A broad united front representing nearly all wings of the American bourgeoisie has denounced the assault on the Capitol as an “insurrection”. They call for the defense of “law and order” and push for an orderly transition of power to Biden. This alliance includes not only the whole Democratic Party (including “left-wing” lawmakers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) but also Republican establishment politicians from Bush to Senate leader Senator Mitch McConnell. Likewise did numerous business leaders – including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft President Brad Smith, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman, and others – condemn the assault on the Capitol. In addition, 10 former Defense secretaries, including Dick Cheney and two who worked under Trump, warned against using the military to try and overturn the election. In short, Trump – an erratic would-be dictator and racist – has lost all support among the ruling class. They know that there is no chance to halt the decay of U.S. imperialism as long as the orange idiot occupies the Oval Office. Hence, the political establishment tries to exploit the right-wing assault on the Capitol for mobilizing support of the public opinion for the consolidation of crisis-ridden capitalist America by an orderly transition of power to Biden.

 

4.            The assault on the Capitol was not a serious coup. It was rather a pseudo-coup – a desperate attempt of fascists and what the English call “the bad, the mad and the sad”. However, it lacked any serious plan and organization since a coup would have aimed at occupying several centers of power and holding them by force of arms. While it is evident that Trump incited his fanatical supporters, it is unclear how much he resp. his underlings were involved in preparing this assault. Anyway, it is telling that the formally still incumbent President was not able to mobilize any sectors of the state apparatus for his goal to stay in power.

 

5.            A remarkable feature of the latest events – causing astonishment all over the world – is the fact that a relatively small mob of right-wing extremists could storm the U.S. Congress during a rally publicly announced long before?! Everyone knew that the Proud Boys and like-minded fascists were coming to the rally! No one could be surprised about such a violent outburst. Even more astonishing, the Capitol was defended by only small police forces who withdrew relatively quickly without firing a single shot! Compare this to the small state of Wisconsin where Democratic Governor Tony Evers immediately activated 500 National Guard troops a few days ago in fear of violent protests after a prosecutor disgracefully announced that he will not file criminal charges against a white police officer who shot Jacob Blake. How is it possible that the Democrats – who also control Washington DC, the country’s capital – did nothing to defend the Capitol against the fascist assault?!

 

6.            The failed storming of the Capitol was both a farce as well as a warning. While it was not a serious coup, it shows the existence of a determined and armed fascist movement. There can't be any doubt that these fascist forces will start a series of violent actions directed against Black, migrants, left-wing activists and even against Democrat politicians (who have supposedly “stolen the election”). In this sense, the pseudo-coup at the Capitol marks both the end of the Trump Presidency as well as the beginning of a radicalized right-wing extremist movement (which will include sectors of the Republicans).

 

7.            In general, the events of the last 24 hours demonstrate once more the deep crisis of U.S. capitalism and its political order. This former absolute hegemon of the imperialist world order is experiencing a dramatic decay which provokes counterrevolutionary attacks as well as revolutionary upheavals both in the U.S. itself as well as globally. There can be no doubt that the U.S. will pass through similar political explosions in the coming years – making it a focus of world politics.

 

8.            The Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT) calls workers and oppressed to prepare and organize against right-wing and fascist threat. It is crucial to build armed self-defense forces to protect Black, Latino and working-class communities against assaults by fascists as well as by the police. Irrespective of its political limitations, we welcome the formation of the black nationalist militia movement NFAC led by John Fitzgerald Johnson (Grandmaster Jay) as a step forward.

 

9.            At the same time, we warn against the trap of supporting the Biden Presidency. We repeat what we said in our election statement published some months ago: “Trump and Biden, the Republicans and the Democrats offer different faces and different words, but they share the determination to attack the social and democratic rights of the popular masses. Both are enemies of the working class, Biden no less than Trump. In such a situation, it is more urgent than ever that the workers and oppressed take the road of independent struggle and independent organizing. Such independence necessitates refusing support for any candidate and any party of the ruling capitalist class. Hence, the RCIT calls to vote neither for Trump nor for Biden, neither for the Republicans nor for the Democrats, at the upcoming election.”

 

10.          Of course, socialists oppose any attempt by Trump to suppress the election results and to launch a coup in order to stay in power. But this must not result in support for Biden – the President of the billionaires. There can be no doubt that he will launch a series of attacks against the workers and popular masses – starting from austerity programs, anti-democratic Lockdown policy to imperialist aggression against oppressed people in the South and Great Power rivalry. We defend democracy against Trump but, equally, also against the police and National Guard which kill Black people and suppress mass protests. Biden, the big corporations, the “deep state” and all the institutions of U.S. imperialism – they are certainly no lesser evil than the mad man in the White House! Shamefully, large sectors of the labor movement and the “left” advocated voting for Biden at the election.

 

11.          The RCIT calls activists of the workers and oppressed movements to advocate a struggle in defense of social and democratic rights independent of any faction of the bourgeoisie. Such a struggle must take place, first and foremost, on the streets, at the workplaces and in the neighborhoods. For this it is urgent to build popular assemblies and committees of action in workplaces, neighborhoods, schools and universities. Such committees should decide about the demands and the course of action. Most importantly, revolutionaries advocate the creation of an independent workers party based on mass organizations of the working class and the oppressed. Such a party would remain completely independent from both parties of the capitalist establishment – the Republicans as well as the Democrats. We call unionists, supporters of Sanders and the DSA to break with the Democratic Party and to join forces in building such a new Labor Party. Revolutionaries advocate a program of struggle for such a party, aiming towards the creation of a workers government which expropriates the super-rich and nationalizes the core sectors of the economy under workers control. The RCIT wants to unite revolutionary activists on the basis of such a program! Join us!

 

 

 

International Bureau of the RCIT

 

 

 

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The RCIT has published a number of documents on the recent developments in the U.S. They can be accessed on our website here: https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/north-america/articles-on-uprising-after-murder-of-george-floyd/.

 

In particular we refer to our statement on the elections: U.S. Election: Neither Trump Nor Biden! Workers and oppressed need to organize and to fight independently! 15 October 2020, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/north-america/u-s-election-neither-trump-nor-biden/