During a drama-free, short joint session of Congress on Monday, not a single Democrat resisted the counting of Trump’s electoral vote victory, including members of the House Jan. 6 committee and impeachment team.

It was the first time in nearly a quarter of a century that a Republican president didn’t face Democratic objection on the Jan. 6 counting of votes.

But despite the acceptance of the election results, something Democrats say sets them apart from Republicans who deny President Joe Biden’s 2020 win, Democrats marked the fourth anniversary of the attack on the Capitol by warning about Republicans trying to gloss over the “emotional trauma” that came with the riots on Jan. 6, 2021.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), one of three dozen House Democrats who hid in the gallery seats while rioters attempted to break down the doors, said she remembers “vividly” how close they came “to not making it out alive.”

“I will never forget the pounding on the doors, the shouting and screaming of both those trying to overrun our democracy and those putting their lives on the line to defend it,” Jayapal said in a statement. “I will never forget that, despite the violence, we returned that night to do the very thing we were elected to do: to certify the election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I also will never forget the handful of brave Republicans who, in the weeks following, stood up to put country over party during Trump’s impeachment trial.”

Jayapal blasted any efforts to “rewrite history” and noted that Monday’s certification was a “stark contrast” to what happened four years ago. Nearly 1,600 defendants have been federally charged in connection to Trump supporters breaking into the Capitol to try to stop the certification of Biden’s win. Trump has said he will issue some pardons to exonerate them when he takes office on Jan. 20.

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) told the Washington Examiner that while he “may not agree with the person who was elected,” both parties must support the “sacred tradition of democratic government.”

“Last presidential election, that tradition was grossly violated,” Subramanyam said. “I am grateful to the Capitol Police for their bravery that day in defending the Capitol, and to the courage Representatives showed that day, remaining in the Capitol until the results were certified. Today’s return to a constitutional transfer of power confirms that those acts of exceptional bravery and courage were not in vain.”

Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) admitted it was “difficult” but important to be at the House to certify the election in a post to X, sharing a photo of her colleagues in the gallery with blank faces.

“We don’t have to like the election results to know that this was a free, fair, and secure election,” Jacobs said.

MEET THE NEW CONGRESS: THE HOUSE AND SENATE FRESHMEN ELECTED TO SERVE NEXT YEAR

Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL), who was also trapped in the gallery four years ago, said he would return to certify the election because “House Democrats honor the Constitution & accept the will of the people.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who led the 2021 impeachment trial of Trump for the Capitol riot, said certifying Trump’s victory four years later was a “short period of intensely mixed emotion.”

“I’m proud that we did it the right way today. I’m proud that the Democrats, rather than concocting big lies and deceit and violence, instead, stood up for the rule of law in the constitutional order,” Raskin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told reporters. “So I’m proud we showed our colleagues and we showed America that we are indeed patriots for our constitutional order.”

Raskin expressed concern that Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results in 2020 have “poisoned our politics.”

However, eight years ago, Raskin mounted an effort on the House floor that also included Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) to challenge the certification of Trump’s 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton, alleging that some electors were not lawfully certified. His objection was not recognized, with Biden, then the vice president, interrupting Raskin by banging the gavel and saying the debate was out of order.

Democrats have objected in some fashion during the Jan. 6 certification session to every Republican presidential win since 2000, starting with President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2005, and Trump in 2017.

In 2021, Republicans mounted a widespread challenge in conjunction with the White House to block the certification of Biden’s win with 147 GOP lawmakers voting to overturn the election in the backdrop of the mob at the Capitol, but not enough to stop the process.

Many Democratic lawmakers honored police officers who guarded the Capitol during the attack. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) blasted the rioters as “thugs” for threatening to “hang the Vice President, assassinate the Speaker of the House and hunt down Members of Congress.”

“They were not peace-loving individuals,” Jeffries said, a knock to several House Republicans who have referred to rioters as peaceful protesters or freedom fighters.

The minority leader’s comments come as Republicans such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) continue to post photos and videos showing rioters calmly walking through the Capitol building — a stark contrast to the photos selected by Democrats, which depict rioters destroying property or attacking Capitol Police officers.

Trump’s pledge to issue pardons for some Jan. 6 rioters has drawn ire from top Democrats such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Pelosi, who was among the targets for some of the rioters on Jan. 6, called Trump a “strange person” for committing to commuting sentences but insisted Congress would accept his win on Monday.

“So he should be triumphant about that,” Pelosi added in her interview with CBS News’s Face the Nation. “But to be still trying to fight a fight that he knows he lost is really sad.”

In a statement on Monday, Pelosi said the 2021 riots “left behind physical scars and emotional trauma on members of our Congressional community and our Country that endure to this day.”

Jeffries set the tone for Democrats on how to behave during the certification in his address on Friday.

“Two months ago, the American people elected Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States of America,” Jeffries said. “Thank you for that very generous applause. It’s OK. There are no election deniers on our side of the aisle.”

“One should love America when you win and when you lose,” Jeffries continued.

Democrats followed Jeffries’s lead. During the vote, Democrats and Republicans maintained decorum, with each party clapping for their candidate as tellers read the votes. Bipartisanship was in the air as a few Democrats joined all Republicans in clapping for the reading of Trump’s electoral votes, and Republicans, in turn, clapped politely for Harris’s votes as well.

Despite not raising objections, many Democrats have pointed to attempts by Trump and Republicans to downplay the impact of Jan. 6 as attempts to “whitewash” history.

“The American people must never be allowed to forget the events of Jan. 6, 2021, the lives that were lost, and the heroism of the law enforcement community,” Jeffries said. “History will always remember the attempted insurrection, and we will never allow the violence that unfolded in plain sight to be whitewashed.”

Not all Democrats are sharing the same peacemaking sentiments as their colleagues. Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairman Greg Casar (D-TX) leveled grievances at Republicans who he says continue to “undermine our citizens’ rights every single day.”

“Trump’s election will be certified, and his administration will be filled with more certified liars, grifters, and corrupt billionaires than any other in American history,” Casar said, adding that progressives will “fight back” if Republicans “try to cut Social Security and Medicare to pay for tax cuts to the wealthy.”

Even if Democrats wanted to raise objections or use the 14th Amendment to attempt to disqualify Trump for inciting an insurrection, a revision of the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act created new procedures for challenges. Among the changes was increasing the threshold to a fifth of the membership of each chamber to raise objections to the count.

Democrats impeached Trump on Jan. 13, 2021, for “incitement of insurrection,” but the Senate voted to acquit him on Feb. 13 of that year. Ten Republicans joined Democrats in voting to impeach him, and only two of them, Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and David Valadao (R-CA), remain in Congress.

The 14th Amendment became the basis for Democrats’ argument that Trump was not qualified for office. However, efforts to remove him from the ballot failed in several states and at the Supreme Court.

Some lawmakers see this certification as the next step toward healing democracy. Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) told the Washington Examiner that Monday’s session is “critically important” to ensure a peaceful transfer of power — something she said Republicans proved incapable of doing.

“It’s outrageous that the vast majority of House Republicans would not certify the last election — an election that was deemed the most secure in our nation’s history by Trump’s own administration,” Balint said. “And it’s frankly sickening that they continue to push these lies about a stolen election.”

TRUMP CABINET PICKS: WHO’S BEEN TAPPED TO SERVE IN THE PRESIDENT-ELECT’S ADMINISTRATION

“They have done severe damage to our democracy — damage that will take several generations to heal,” Balint added. “Today, I am clear-eyed and sober about the tough work ahead for our nation. It is my sincere hope that my colleagues who know they are lying for Trump will finally locate their spines.”

Pelosi said the “parable” of Jan. 6 is that democracy is only as strong as the “courage and commitment of those entrusted with their care.”

Hailey Bullis contributed to this report.