Biden says Americans shouldn’t forget the 2021 Capitol attack but there won’t be a repeat this time
Biden says Americans shouldn’t forget the 2021 Capitol attack but there won’t be a repeat this time
President Joe Biden is decrying what he calls an “unrelenting effort” to downplay a mob of Donald Trump supporters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to block certification of the 2020 election — seeking to contrast that day’s chaos with what he promises will be an orderly transition returning Trump to power for a second term.
In an opinion piece published Sunday in The Washington Post, Biden recalled Jan. 6, 2021, writing that “violent insurrectionists attacked the Capitol.”
“We should be proud that our democracy withstood this assault,” Biden wrote. “And we should be glad we will not see such a shameful attack again this year.”
Congress is convening in Washington on Monday to certify Trump’s victory in November’s election — in a session presided over by the candidate he defeated, Vice President Kamala Harris. No violence, or even procedural objections, are expected this time, marking a return to a U.S. tradition that launches the peaceful transfer of presidential power.
That’s despite Trump continuing to deny that he lost to Biden in 2020, already musing publicly about staying beyond the Constitution’s two-term White House limit, and promising to pardon some of the more than 1,250 people who have pleaded guilty or were convicted of crimes for the Capitol siege.
In his opinion piece, Biden says of the certification process, “After what we all witnessed on Jan. 6, 2021, we know we can never again take it for granted.” He doesn’t mention Trump directly but says “an unrelenting effort has been underway to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day.”
“To tell us we didn’t see what we all saw with our own eyes,” Biden wrote. “We cannot allow the truth to be lost.”
He vowed that the “election will be certified peacefully. I have invited the incoming president to the White House on the morning of Jan. 20, and I will be present for his inauguration that afternoon,” even though Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
“But on this day, we cannot forget,” Biden added. “We should commit to remembering Jan. 6, 2021, every year. To remember it as a day when our democracy was put to the test and prevailed. To remember that democracy — even in America — is never guaranteed.”
Trump, on Monday, didn’t mention Biden’s opinion piece but disputed the Democratic president’s assertion that he’s worked to ensure an orderly transfer of power from one administration to the next.
“They talk about a transition. They’re always saying, ’Oh, no, we want to have a smooth transition from party to party of government,'” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “Well, they’re making it really difficult. They’re throwing everything they can in the way.”
Those comments came as Trump bristled at an 11th hour order issued Monday by Biden banning offshore oil and gas drilling in most federal waters, which the Republican president-elect vowed to roll back once he’s in office.
Biden’s published opinion piece on Sunday evening followed him telling reporters at the White House earlier in the day that the history of what occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, “should not be rewritten” and adding, “I don’t think it should be forgotten.”
Biden spent much of 2024 warning voters that Trump was a serious threat to the nation’s democracy. And this past week, the president awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson, leaders of the congressional investigation into the Capitol riot.
As he did with his opinion piece, Biden used his Sunday comments to reports to insist that he’s overseeing a peaceful handover of power — and contrast that with Trump’s actions in early 2021.
”I’ve reached out to make sure the smooth transition,” Biden said of Trump’s incoming administration. “We’ve got to get back to basic, normal transfer of power.”
Asked if he still viewed his soon-to-be successor in the White House as a threat to democracy, Biden responded, “I think what he did was a genuine threat to democracy. I’m hopeful we’re beyond that now.”
By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press
