‘Trump Is Running as the “Denier-in-chief”’: Biden Savages Former President in Jan 6 Observance
Speech also marks president’s campaign kickoff in likely rematch
In a dramatic shift for his presidency, President Biden condemned Donald Trump explicitly and repeatedly by name for Trump's role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election and fomenting the attack on the US Capitol Building.
Biden delivered what was promised as an important speech to mark the third anniversary of the insurrection on January 6, 2021, when violent supporters of Trump's stormed the Capitol in an attempt to help the Republican illegally cling to power.
He delivered the remarks near Valley Forge, Pa., where George Washington camped his Continental Army in 1777 during a key period of the Revolutionary War. Biden originally was to make the speech on Saturday January 6, but the event was moved up a day due to expected inclement weather.
In what was a dramatic departure for his time in office, Biden called out Trump by name — repeatedly — or some 33 times during the speech. In addition to an observance of January 6, the event clearly marked the kickoff of Biden's 2024 reelection campaign given that he is likely to face a rematch against Trump in November.
“Today, we gather in a new year, some 246 years later, just one day before January 6, a day forever shared in our memory because it was on that day that we nearly lost America — lost it all,” Biden said. “Today, we’re here to answer the most important of questions. Is democracy still America’s sacred cause? I mean it,” he added, to audience applause.
Biden recounted the events of January 6, when Trump sat in a small dining room off the Oval Office and only watched as his supporters rioted in his name, attacking police officers defending the Capitol.
“The entire nation watched in horror. The whole world watched in disbelief. And Trump did nothing,” Biden said. “Members of his staff, members of his family, Republican leaders who were under attack for the — at that very moment pled with him: ‘Act. Call off the mob.’
“Imagine had he gone out and said, ‘Stop,’ Biden added. “And still, Trump did nothing. It was among the worst derelictions of duty by a president in American history: an attempt to overturn a free and fair election by force and violence.”
In the years since the insurrection, nearly 1,000 Trump supporters have been convicted of crimes for their actions that day, Biden noted.
“And what has Trump done? Instead of calling them ‘criminals,’ he’s called these these insurrectionists ‘patriots.’ They’re ‘patriots.’ And he promised to pardon them if he returns to office,” Biden said.
And Trump only intends more, as Biden noted that Trump has called his campaign to return to the White House this year “revenge” and “retribution.”
American democracy itself is at stake — and on the ballot — in this year's election, where Trump continues not to respect elections, Biden said.
“Now, in 2024, Trump in running as the ‘denier-in-chief’ — the election denier-in-chief,” he said. “Once again, he’s saying he won’t honor the results of the election if he loses.
“Trump says he doesn’t understand. Well, he still doesn’t understand the basic truth, and that is you can’t love your country only when you win. You can’t love your country only when you win,” Biden added, to applause.
Journalists noticed Biden's distinct change in tone in Friday's speech.
“And I have to say as somebody who has followed Joe Biden for now 15 years, and followed him certainly every step of the way through the White House, I think I heard the words ‘Donald Trump’ more in this 20-minute speech than we heard on camera from this president in all of 2023, and maybe for all of his term in office so far,” said Mike Memoli, of NBC News.
The speech won praise from other Democrats, including Rep Jamie Raskin, the prominent congressman from Maryland and ranking member of the House Oversight Committee.
“Well, it was a remarkable speech which spoke directly to the moment and was delivered with amazing conviction and integrity,” Raskin said in an on-camera interview with MSNBC after Biden's remarks. “And it was the kind of speech I think will galvanize and mobilize millions and millions of people across the country to get in the fight.”
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