On the first anniversary of the January 6 Capitol insurrection, President Joe Biden called out former president Donald Trump for his attempts to demolish American democracy.
Biden said that for the first time in history, a U.S. president not only just lost an election but tried to prevent the peaceful transition of power. He said that while the violent mob descending upon the Capitol tried to stop this transition, “they failed.” He continued that on the anniversary and on a day of remembrance for the violent attack, America needs to ensure that a similar attack never happens again.
Biden said that Trump had a bruised ego, and that his ego mattered more to him than democracy, or the U.S. Constitution. “He can’t accept he lost,” Biden said.
Biden does not typically speak directly about Trump, especially since taking the office of the president last year. In the speech, Biden never once said the name “Trump,” but instead referred to him only as “the former President.” This rare blistering speech confronted Trump’s ongoing election lies as well as his post-presidency behavior.
Biden cited how Trump has continued to spread falsehoods about the 2020 election in attempts to undermine the election and democracy as a whole.
The speech served to hold Trump accountable for his words and actions, and for inciting the riot of his supporters that stormed the Capitol.
Biden said that a former president created and spread a web of lies about the election, and did so because he values his own power over principle and his own interests more than the interests of the country as a whole.
Looking more broadly, Biden said that the U.S. is still in “a battle for the soul of America,” and warned that America and democracy were at risk.
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