Biden lambasts Trump for January 6 Capitol riot, a day ‘we nearly lost America’

Name: Donald Trump, 18 others indicted in Georgia for alleged bid to overturn state election results
Uploaded: 2024-01-05T21:50:16.000Z
Duration: 3 min 33 s
Description: Donald Trump, 18 others indicted in Georgia for alleged bid to overturn state election results

The day before the anniversary of the US Capitol riot, Biden said the 2024 presidential race is ‘all about’ whether American democracy will survive

‘By trying to rewrite the facts of January 6, Trump is trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election,’ Biden said

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US President Joe Biden speaks in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, US on Friday. Photo: AP

Associated Press

Published: 5:50am, 6 Jan 2024Updated: 7:40am, 6 Jan 2024

US President Joe Biden warned on Friday that Donald Trump’s efforts to retake the White House in 2024 pose a grave threat to the country, the day before the third anniversary of the violent riot at the US Capitol by then-President Trump’s supporters aiming to keep him in power.

Speaking near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where George Washington and the Continental Army spent a bleak winter nearly 250 years ago, Biden said January 6, 2021 marked a moment where “we nearly lost America – lost it all”.

He said the presidential race – a likely rematch with Trump, who is the far and away Republican front runner – is “all about” whether American democracy will survive.

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Donald Trump, 18 others indicted in Georgia for alleged bid to overturn state election results

Biden laid out Trump’s role in the Capitol attack, as a mob of the Republicans’ supporters overran the building while lawmakers were counting electoral college votes that certified Democrat Biden’s win.

More than 100 police officers were bloodied, beaten and attacked by the rioters who overwhelmed authorities to break into the building.

“What’s Trump done? He’s called these insurrectionists ‘patriots’ and he promised to pardon them if he returns to office,” Biden said. He excoriated Trump for “glorifying” rather than condemning political violence

At least nine people who were at the Capitol that day died during or after the rioting, including several police officers who took their own lives, a woman who was shot and killed by police as she tried to break into the House chamber, and three other Trump supporters who authorities said suffered medical emergencies.