Image source,Getty Images
On the first anniversary of the U.S. Capitol riots, U.S. President Joe Biden violently criticized former President Donald Trump
In a televised speech, Biden accused his predecessor of spreading “a web of lies”, which led to the mob’s attack on the Capitol.
Trump supporters broke into the Capitol on a large scale on January 6, 2021, when Congress was meeting to confirm Biden’s victory in the presidential election.
The scene footage of many American politicians who had to hide under the onslaught of the mob shocked the world.
Not long before the incident, Trump advocated at a rally outside the White House that the demonstrators “peacefully” march to Congress, but he also encouraged them to “fight” and used an unfounded large-scale after the election that he just lost. Allegations of election fraud are used to incite the crowd.
Shortly after Biden’s speech on Thursday, Trump issued a drastic statement attacking his successor. In the statement, he criticized Biden for “failure” and again raised false allegations about the election.
The Democrats, who hold a majority of seats in the US Congress, planned a series of events to mark the first anniversary of the shock – including a candlelight vigil outside the Capitol.
Many people talked about their experiences that day, including how to find a hiding place and avoid the rioters with the young staff.
A House committee is conducting an investigation, and investigators have arrested 725 suspects in connection with the riots.
Image source,Reuters
The mob carried the American flag and stormed into the U.S. Capitol.
“The dagger standing in front of the throat of American democracy”
In his speech on Thursday, Biden condemned the congressional attackers and Trump himself, using the most violent language about congressional riots and the previous president so far.
“Those who attacked Congress and those who instigated this incident put a dagger in the throat of the United States and the American democratic system,” Biden said in the National Statue Hall of the Capitol. This is one of the places where riot participants broke into it a year ago.
“They came here with anger, not to serve the United States, but to serve a person.”
“The former president of the United States of America fabricated and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election… For him, his wounded self-esteem is more important than our democracy or our constitution.”
The President of the United States also warned that the threat to American democracy “has not diminished.”
Image source,Win McNamee / Getty Images
On January 6, 2021, a group of pro-Trump mobs confronted the U.S. Congressional police outside the Senate.
Later that day, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, presided over a silent ceremony in the Chamber. She praised the police for protecting members of parliament and others who went into hiding during the riots.
“These insurgents are not only targeting buildings, they are attacking the democratic system itself,” she said.
Some Republicans did not attend the memorial rally on this day. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell led a delegation to attend the funeral of a former senator in Atlanta, Georgia.
At the same time, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz and Georgia Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene—both pro-Trump radical members of the House of Representatives—in Congress A press conference was held and the label was marked as a “Republican response” to the events of the day.
They once again made unfounded claims, claiming that the attack on that day was driven by federal agents.
The mother of Ashli Babblit, a former member of the U.S. Air Force who was shot by the police after trying to storm the House of Representatives that day, gave a speech outside the Congress.
“She is a patriot. She has served this country all her adult life,” Micki Witthoeft accepted the Right Side Broadcasting Network in Alabama. Said during the interview.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, accused Biden on Twitter of “shamelessly” politicizing the January 6 riots.
Image source,SAUL LOEB / AFP
On January 6, 2021, Trump supporter Richard Barnett sat in the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and protested in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
Analysis: Has the tone turned?
——BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher (Anthony Zurcher)
In January last year, Joe Biden delivered an inauguration speech outside the U.S. Capitol. The focus at the time was recovery and unity.
Now, nearly a year later, standing in the center of the building again—and at this time the country is clearly still torn apart as always—Biden put the wording of unity aside and pointed the finger at Donald Trump and his supporter.
These are some of the sharpest rhetoric against the previous president since the 2020 presidential election. Biden condemned Trump for continuing to try to question the legitimacy of the election.
Not only that, he bombarded Republicans who continued to support the former president, and praised the nation’s efforts to implement electoral reforms to counter what he referred to as Trump’s support of attempts to weaken voting rights.
This is an election year in the United States, and the control of Congress and several key states hangs in the balance.
Biden’s rhetoric has shifted, which may mean that policy is also shifting. He has decided that the most effective way to unite the Democratic Party is to use anger, not hope.