By Cindy Chen
VALLEY FORGE, PA – In a speech commemorating the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol, President Joe Biden this week addressed key aspects of U.S. democracy, and the upcoming election.
Held in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, the speech criticized his anticipated 2024 election opponent, Donald Trump, and the Republicans aligned with him, according to Reuters News.
Three years ago, on Jan. 6, 2021, proponents of then-President Trump gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the certification of the electoral college results that confirmed Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
The rioters breached the Capitol building, engaging in acts of vandalism, looting, and clashes with law enforcement. Five people were killed, and the event prompted widespread condemnation of the assault on democratic institutions and rule of law.
Biden, said Reuters News, began his speech this week by posing a critical question: “Is democracy still America’s sacred cause? This is not rhetorical, academic or hypothetical. Whether democracy is still America’s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time. That’s what the 2024 election is all about.”
Biden also raised concerns about Trump’s campaign, which Biden characterized as self-centered and fixated on the past, with a willingness to “sacrifice our democracy to put himself in power.”
Biden also, wrote Reuters News, expressed concern over what he referred to as “MAGA voices” that, in his view, have forsaken truth and democracy in their allegiance to Trump.
The President claimed: “Trump is running as the denier-in-chief, the election denier-in-chief. Once again, he’s saying he won’t honor the results of the election if he loses… He still doesn’t understand the basic truth and that is you can’t love your country only when you win.”
Reflecting on the events of January 6, 2021, Biden denounced the violent acts, including attacks on the Capitol and the loss of lives.
“For the first time in our history, insurrectionists had come to stop the peaceful transfer of power in America … smashing windows, shattering doors, attacking the police. Outside, gallows were erected as the MAGA crowd chanted ‘Hang Mike Pence.’ Inside, they hunted for (House) Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi.”
“Over 140 police officers injured. Jill and I attended the funerals of police officers who died as a result of the events that day. Because of Donald Trump’s lies. They died because these lies brought a mob to Washington,” reported Reuters News.
Biden also scrutinized Trump’s characterization of the insurrectionists as patriots, asserting the incompatibility of advocating for insurrection with true patriotism.
The President opined, Reuters News said, “Trump’s mob wasn’t a peaceful protest, it was a violent assault. They were insurrectionists, not patriots… I’ll say what Donald Trump won’t. Physical violence is never, ever acceptable in the United States political system… It has no place in a democracy, none. You can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American.”
Since the 2020 election, the Trump campaign has initiated numerous legal challenges in an attempt to overturn election results in several states. They contended that illegal votes, ballot tampering, and other irregularities occurred in several key battleground states.
Trump has also expressed skepticism, Reuters News noted, about the validity of mail-in ballots, especially those cast in states that expanded mail-in voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the majority of these legal efforts were unsuccessful, and no widespread fraud or irregularities were substantiated through the legal process.
In reference to this, Biden accused Trump of distorting facts, likening it to his alleged attempts to undermine the legitimacy of the election: “He tried to rewrite the facts of Jan. 6. Trump is trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election,” wrote Reuters News.
Trump admires Hitler and utilizes his rhetoric. Trump loves brutal authoritarian dictators.