“Even President Trump knows it’s over.”

IPNews-Washington D. C.: Trump admitted for the first time early Thursday that he lost the 2020 election and committed to an “orderly” transition of power after Congress certified President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” Trump said in a statement. “I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!”

Trump’s long-delayed admission came after one of the darkest days in modern American history played out on Capitol Hill.

Incited by Trump, a mob of far-right rioters, many armed, stormed the U.S. Capitol while lawmakers were counting the Electoral College votes in the final step before Biden’s inauguration, resulting in four deaths and a lenghty delay of the certification process.

Biden will be inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on Jan. 20.

Trump’s commitment to a peaceful transfer of power came after several White House officials resigned in protest of his handling of Wednesday’s Capitol chaos.

Also Wednesday, members of Trump’s Cabinet began discussing the idea of using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office on grounds that he’s a danger to the nation, according to reports.

On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, A woman was fatally shot after throngs of Trump-supporting thugs stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in a violent attempt to disrupt the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s election victory, forcing lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence to evacuate as gunfire rang out inside the halls of Congress.

The deeply unsettling situation unfolded after President Trump, still refusing to admit defeat, told supporters at a massive rally that they should “fight harder” to overturn Biden’s victory and march in protest to the Capitol, where members of the House and Senate convened to formally count the electoral votes — the final constitutional step before Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

“We will never give up. We will never concede. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved,” Trump shouted to roars from the crowd gathered in the ellipse park in front of the White House.

After Trump’s incendiary speech, his die-hard supporters marched as requested to the U.S. Capitol.

Dozens of insurrectionists, some touting guns and confederate battle flags, managed to breach the security perimeter and enter the Capitol.

Capitol Police officers were seen drawing firearms and barricading the doors to the House chamber with bookshelves.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said shots were fired.

“This is unacceptable,” McCarthy, who has supported Trump’s unfounded attempt to overturn Biden’s election, said on Fox News. “People are being hurt. This is unacceptable.”

According to a source familiar with the matter, a woman was shot and killed during the chaotic clashes. The woman was not immediately identified and it’s unclear who shot her. Capitol Police declined to comment.

Television crews outside the Capitol captured emergency personnel carrying out a woman on a stretcher who appeared to be bleeding from her neck.

Several officers were reported injured in the clashes. NBC News reported that at least one improvised explosive device was found inside the Capitol, though it is not believe to have detonated.

Photos posted to social media from reporters showed some rioters managed to break into the Senate and House chambers as well as offices of lawmakers.

One rioter took the seat of the Senate presiding officer and yelled into the microphone, “Trump won that election,” according to reporters inside. Another rioter, wearing a red “Keep America Great” cap, was spotted in photos sitting by a desk in a lawmaker’s office, smoking what appeared to be a vape cigarette while wrapped in an American flag.

As mayhem took over the halls of Congress, lawmakers and Pence were evacuated to safe, undisclosed locations by Secret Service agents and Capitol Police officers.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) laid blame for the Capitol chaos squarely on Trump and the congressional Republicans who attempted to use Wednesday’s session to challenge the Electoral College results.

“I think Donald Trump probably should be brought up on treason for something like this. This is how a coup is started. And this is how democracy dies,” Gomez told reporters as they were being evacuated. “It’s crazy. This shouldn’t happen in the United States.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) brought Gomez’s suggestion into action and announced she was drafting articles of impeachment against Trump, who was already impeached by the House in 2019, but acquitted by the Senate.

“We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill that oath,” Omar tweeted, noting that if the Senate votes to convict Trump this time around, he’ll be barred from ever holding office again.

The Defense Department announced the entire capital-area National Guard was set to be deployed to help local law enforcement bring the situation under control. Law enforcement agencies from Virginia and Maryland were also being called in to assist.

Before Pence was abruptly shuttled out of the chamber, he had informed Congress that he would not attempt to single-handedly throw out electoral votes certified for Biden, rebuffing Trump’s demand that he do so.

As his supporters stormed the building, Trump started attacking his vice president over Twitter.

“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country,” he tweeted. “USA demands the truth!”

Only after violence broke out, Trump called on his supporters to dial it back — but not without reiterating his false and repeatedly debunked claim that the election was rigged against him.

“We had an election that was stolen from us,” Trump said in a pre-taped video posted to his Twitter account. “But you have to go home now … This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. So go home. We love you, you’re very special.”

Biden, who will be inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on Jan. 20, was supposed to deliver remarks Wednesday afternoon about the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but switched up the speech to focus on the siege at the Capitol.

“At this hour, our democracy’s under unprecedented assault, unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times. An assault on the citadel of liberty, the Capitol itself,” Biden said from his transition team headquarters in Wilmington, Del. “This is not dissent. It’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition. And it must end. Now. I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward.”

Unlike Trump, Pence also offered an unambiguous call for the violence to stop.

“Peaceful protest is the right of every American but this attack on our Capitol will not be tolerated and those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Pence wrote on Twitter.(CBS News)