US President Joe Biden on Friday (January 6) alleged that Donald Trump’s efforts to run for the President and retake White House this year posed a grave threat to the country. Biden’s remarks came while speaking near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on the eve of the third anniversary of the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s supporters aiming to keep him in power. The President recalled the moment and said that January 6, 2021, marked a moment where “we nearly lost America — lost it all.”
He said that the presidential race – a likely rematch with Trump who is a GOP frontrunner – is “all about” if American democracy will survive.
“We all know who Donald Trump is. The question we have to answer is who are we?” Biden said.
Biden on Trump's alleged role in attack
Biden alleged Trump’s role in the Capitol attack in which a mob of the Republican's supporters overran the building while lawmakers were counting Electoral College votes that certified Democrat Biden's victory. The incident had left over 100 police officers bloodied, assaulted 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.
Biden accused Trump of “trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the 2020 election” by trying to rewrite the facts of the January 6 attack.
Trump, who faces 91 criminal charges stemming from his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden and three other felony cases, argues that Biden and top Democrats are themselves seeking to undermine democracy by using the legal system to thwart the campaign of his chief rival.
"Not America. Not you. Donald Trump's campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future. There's no confusion about who Trump is or what he intends to do,” Biden said.
"They weren't looking to uphold the will of the people. They were looking to deny the will of the people," Biden said of the rioters.
(With AP inputs)
ALSO READ | 'Putin must be stopped': US President Biden after Russia's largest aerial attack kills 31 in Ukraine
