Biden Blames Trump for Riot, and Trump Responds

Biden: 'For the first time in our history, a president ... tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power'
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 6, 2022 10:05 AM CST
Biden, Trump Trade Shots Over Jan. 6 Capitol Riot
President Biden speaks from Statuary Hall at the US Capitol to mark the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2020, riot.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

President Biden spoke Thursday on the one-year anniversary of the riot at the Capitol and made clear he places the blame for that day squarely on his predecessor, though he never mentioned Donald Trump by name. Trump has responded with slams of his own. Highlights:

  • Biden: "For the first time in our history, a president not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol," said the president, per the AP. "But they failed. ... Democracy was attacked ... [but] we the people prevailed.”
  • Biden: "We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie," he said, per NBC News. "A former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He's done so because he values power over principle, because he sees his own interest as more important than his country's interest and America's interest. He can't accept he lost."
  • Biden: "They didn't come here out of patriotism or principle," said the president, referring to the rioters, per the Washington Post. "They came here in rage—not in service of America, but rather in service of one man."

  • Biden: The president accused Trump and his supporters of "trying to rewrite history" in his speech. "They want you to see Election Day as the day of insurrection and the riot that took place here on January 6th as a true expression of the will of the people Can you think of a more twisted way to look at this country, to look at America? I cannot."
  • Trump: "Biden, who is destroying our Nation with insane policies of open Borders, corrupt Elections, disastrous energy policies, unconstitutional mandates, and devastating school closures, used my name today to try to further divide America," Trump said in a statement. "This political theater is all just a distraction for the fact Biden has completely and totally failed." He ticked off a number of issues, from the Afghan exit to rising inflation.
  • Trump: He called members of the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot "totally partisan political hacks" and said they should instead be investigating the "Big Lie" of the "rigged" election.
  • Trump: "The Democrats want to own this day of January 6th so they can stoke fears and divide America," Trump said. "I say, let them have it because America sees through [their] lies and polarizations."
  • Lindsey Graham: Trump isn't the only Republican going after Biden's speech. "What brazen politicization of January 6 by President Biden," Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted. "I wonder if the Taliban who now rule Afghanistan with al-Qaeda elements present, contrary to President Biden's beliefs, are allowing this speech to be carried?"
(More Capitol riot stories.)

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