特朗普曾多次设法阻止拜登获选
刘立军 供稿
TRANSCRIPT
The panel of House lawmakers investigating the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol last year heard testimony Thursday that former President Donald Trump repeatedly pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to thwart Congress from certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had won the 2020 presidential election.
Pence was presiding over Congress as lawmakers were in the initial stages of the state-by-state count of Electoral College votes to verify Biden’s victory when about 2,000 Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building to disrupt the proceeding.
Trump, in both private and in public, implored Pence to reject the electoral count from states where Biden narrowly won.
Pence lawyer Greg Jacob described how a Trump lawyer, John Eastman, tried to convince Pence that he had the legal authority to unilaterally upend the election.
But Jacob said Eastman eventually conceded that the U.S. Supreme Court would likely reject his legal theory.
In an Associated Press interview, President Biden acknowledged that Americans are, in his words, “really, really down.”
AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani has more.
From the virus pandemic to economic volatility and high gas prices, the president says everything Americans count on has been “upset.”
During a 30-minute Oval Office interview, he told the AP he is optimistic despite warnings from some economists the U.S. could be headed for a recession.
He says that’s not inevitable and he is dismissing Republican claims that last year’s COVID aid plan was fully to blame for four-decade high inflation, calling the argument “bizarre.”
Sagar Meghani, at the White House.
VOCABULARY
1. testimony n. a formal written or spoken statement saying what you know to be true, usually in court 证词；证言；口供。例如：a sworn testimony宣誓证词
2. thwart v. to prevent sb. from doing what they want to do 阻止；阻挠
3. preside v. to lead or be in charge of a meeting, ceremony, etc. 主持（会议、仪式等）；担任（会议）主席。例如：the presiding judge首席法官
4. disrupt v. to make it difficult for sth. to continue in the normal way 扰乱；使中断；打乱。例如：Demonstrators succeeded in disrupting the meeting. 示威者成功地扰乱了会议。
5. unilaterally adv. in a unilateral manner 单方面地；单边地
6. upend v. to turn sb. / sth. upside down 使颠倒。例如：The bicycle lay upended in a ditch. 自行车翻倒在一条小水沟里。
7. concede v. to admit that sth. is true, logical, etc. 承认（某事属实、合乎逻辑等）
8. volatility n. the trait of being unpredictably irresolute 不稳定性
QUESTIONS
Read the statements. Then listen to the news and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F). Then correct the false statements.
1. Former President Donald Trump repeatedly pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to thwart Congress from certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had won the 2021 presidential election.
2. About 2,000 Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building to disrupt the proceeding.
3. Trump implored Pence to reject the electoral count from states where Biden narrowly won.
4. Greg Jacob tried to convince Pence that he had the legal authority to unilaterally upend the election.
5. Joe Biden is pessimistic about warnings from some economists the U.S. could be headed for a recession.
KEY
Read the statements. Then listen to the news and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F). Then correct the false statements.
(F) 1. Former President Donald Trump repeatedly pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to thwart Congress from certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had won the 2021 presidential election. （正确表达）Former President Donald Trump repeatedly pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to thwart Congress from certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had won the 2020 presidential election.
(T) 2. About 2,000 Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building to disrupt the proceeding.
(T) 3. Trump implored Pence to reject the electoral count from states where Biden narrowly won.
(F) 4. Greg Jacob tried to convince Pence that he had the legal authority to unilaterally upend the election. （正确表达）John Eastman tried to convince Pence that he had the legal authority to unilaterally upend the election.
(F) 5. Joe Biden is pessimistic about warnings from some economists the U.S. could be headed for a recession. （正确表达）Joe Biden is optimistic despite warnings from some economists the U.S. could be headed for a recession.
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