ANALYSIS: The strength of Donald Trump's connection to his base means the extraordinary riot inside the US Capitol today may not be enough to shock the country out of its partisan divide, former 9News foreign correspondent Robert Penfold says.
A mob of Mr Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol while Congress was certifying Joe Biden's election win, gaining access to both chambers and smashing windows.
One woman was shot dead by police and three others died from "medical emergencies".
The protesters turned their attention on the Capitol moments after Mr Trump addressed them at a nearby rally.
Penfold lives in Los Angeles and retired in 2019 after 43 years with Nine, including more than two decades as the network's US correspondent. He continues to work as a special contributor.
He said he'd never seen anything like the chaotic scenes today.
"This is really shocking and I think most Americans will join me in saying that," he told 9news.com.au.
"Sure, we understand it's a very divided nation but nobody thought it could ever have gone to these lengths where crowds have actually stormed the Capitol building.
"It's just unbelievable, particularly after the president spoke to them this morning.
"In many ways, so many people now believe he incited them.
"He was the one who got them riled up to the point after he finished speaking, they turned around and up they went to the Capitol building."
Penfold said security was usually extremely tight at the Capitol and he was baffled as to how the rioters managed to get so close.
'Something much deeper is going on here'
Since his convincing election loss to Mr Biden, the president has pursued an unfounded conspiracy that the election was "stolen" from him and the Republican party.
That continued during his incendiary rally.
"If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," Mr Trump said.
"Let the weak ones get out.
"This is a time for strength."
Mr Trump did belatedly post a video online calling for protesters to go home.
But far from denouncing the chaos, Mr Trump instead sent a message of praise to the rioters: "We love you, you're very special."
Social media giants Facebook, Twitter and YouTube soon moved to delete posts from the president and lock his accounts.
READ MORE: Twitter threatens Trump with permanent ban
The scenes of looting in the chambers of Congress and Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office were disturbing, but Penfold said the country might not yet have reached a tipping point.
More than 70 million people voted for Mr Trump in the November election.
Some polls show more than 70 per cent of those voters believe the election was in some way rigged or fraudulent in Democrats' favour.
"Something really much deeper is going on here," Penfold said.
"A lot of the people out here really do believe the election was stolen.
"Over and over again, the president, the person they voted for, has told them this is the truth and as we know, because it's been through more than 20 court cases, it's not the case.
"But because Donald Trump is such a convincing salesman, he's been able to continue to sell them on the idea to the point where America is more divided than it ever was before.
"You'd like to think this might be the moment that shocks everyone to end this great divide in the United States but at the moment I tend to think that's not going to be the case."
Where to now for Republicans?
Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley had led the charge in objecting to the election results, even as more senior figures in the party such as Senate leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Mike Pence pushed back on pressure from Mr Trump.
Since winning office in 2016, the Republican party has been reshaped in Mr Trump's image.
But in the intervening four years, the party has lost control of the presidency, the House, and finally this morning, the Senate.
"The Republican party as we knew it doesn't exist anymore," Penfold said.
"Those conservative Republicans who did vote for Trump because he was their candidate are now believing their party has been hijacked and they don't have a party anymore.
"It's going to be interesting to see whether or not the Republican hierarchy that was the leadership there will work out somehow how to reestablish the party as a real party and somehow distance itself from Trump.
"But what happened today has just driven a nail in the coffin in the Republican party as we know it."
Joe Biden's challenge
Mr Biden delivered an address from Wilmington, Delaware today as looters ran rampant in the Capitol.
Tradition usually sees the incoming president respect the office of his predecessor and Mr Biden has painted himself as a healer, rarely mentioning Mr Trump by name.
That changed today when the president-elect demanded an end to the rioting and called on Mr Trump to address the nation.
"The words of a president matter. No matter how good or bad that president is," Mr Biden said.
"At their best, the words of a president can inspire. At their worst, they can incite."
Penfold said Mr Biden appeared to lay blame for the riot with Mr Trump's words and actions.
"He's been pretty loathe to criticise Trump while he's still president and maintain the routine of what happens when you're the president-elect – you stay quiet, make your plans, you work quietly in the background," Penfold said.
"Today he decided obviously it crossed a Rubicon, as it were, and he said to Trump, 'You have to come out, you have to say something to the people of America'.
"He actually demanded Trump, who hadn't said anything at that stage, come out to try to quell the violence that he indicated Trump had created in the first place."
Mr Biden's inauguration is less than two weeks away but the spectre of Mr Trump looms large.
"Trump's always there, Trump's always hovering," Penfold said.
"This could well be Joe Biden's problem for years to come.
"There are suggestions now Trump may, once he's gone, go and get his television show.
"If he gets that, he might be like one of those old-time American preachers on television every day calling his supporters up, appealing for money so he can run again, building the millions or hundreds of millions.
"They are terrified Trump just won't go away."
'America always seems able to overcome'
In his decades living in the US, Penfold has seen the country stare down crises from the September 11 attacks and the financial crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The chaos that hit the US Capitol today might have been unprecedented but Penfold backed the country's institutions to recover.
"People think: boy, could this been the end of America as we know it?" he said.
"I don't think so. It's a very strong nation, even in recent history.
"America always seems to be able to overcome.
"There is no doubt Americans are very stunned at what they saw today and no doubt embarrassed at what they were watching but I wouldn't say America is on its knees at the moment.
"It's going through an extraordinary upheaval politically but I've always said as an American citizen as well as an Australian citizen, I've always seen the strength this nation has uniquely.
"I think, somehow, it will rise all above that.
"The big question is: where will Trump be?
"He's going to be around for some time and that's going to be a very, very disruptive influence for America for some years to come."
