Megan Geall
Donald Trump spread ‘a web of lies’, claims Joe Biden in an commemorative address to the American nation on the state of democracy in America, a year on from the US Capitol Riots.
On the 6 January 2021, supporters of Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol Building in Washington DC in an attempt to overturn Trump’s presidential defeat to the current president Joe Biden. The riots were a deadly assault that caused the death of five people and the hospitalisation of fifteen police officers due to them being brutally beaten, sprayed with chemical irritants or simply crushed by the surging crowds. The attacks caused millions of pounds worth of damage and forced politicians to run for safety and cover as the mob disrupted the certification of Biden’s election victory by breaking into the Capitol building, smashing windows and ransacking the offices of politicians.
One year ago at 5:04pm, I took this photo of law enforcement using flash bang grenades & tear gas on a violent mob trying to break into the U.S. Capitol. It was hr 4 in my gas mask, helmet & bulletproof vest photographing hand-to-hand combat between police and American citizens. pic.twitter.com/6J0QM54ZqF
— Leah Millis (@LeahMillis) January 6, 2022
A Year On
A year on from the attacks, Biden has condemned political violence in an address to the nation while also hitting out against the former president and his words leading up to the riots. The two main points in this anniversary address were the attack on Trump’s actions and the condemnation of political violence that called into question the state of democracy in America.
Speaking from the Statuary Hall of the US Capitol, Joe Biden said the former president “spread a web of lies” around the election results because he “values power over principle”. Biden claimed that Mr Trump spread lies about the validity of the election and incited anger amongst his supporters, encouraging them to riot and storm the Capitol in protest. This incitement of political anger disrupted the sanctity of US democracy that began the day after the election, 4 November 2020, when Trump falsely declared himself the winner and denounced the ongoing counting of absentee ballots as a “fraud on the American people.” There were an increased number of absentee ballots due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but the words of Trump and their endorsement by other members of the Republican Party led to many false conspiracies about the validity of the election result and a growing anger amongst Trump supporters about the possibility of a Biden win.
As the likelihood of a Biden triumph increased, radicalised groups of Trump supporters began to state the necessity of forceful and even violent direct action against the counting of absentee ballots in order to stop Biden taking office. Trump encouraged his supporters to attend the rally against this counting on 6 January, tweeting “Be there, will be wild!”. Although Trump never explicitly encouraged the rally to turn violent or commit any illegal acts, this incitement of political anger is believed to have majorly contributed to the events that took place last year.
Changes to American Democracy
“he’s not just a former president, he’s a former defeated president.”
A year on, it is clear that America is still suffering in election chaos with Biden issuing a dramatic warning in his speech that there is still “a dagger at the throat of American democracy”. Tens of millions of American’s still believe that the presidency was stolen from Trump in a false election, making Biden an illegitimate president. Biden’s speech launched an attack on his predecessor in such a way that has never been done before; he stated that “he’s not just a former president, he’s a former defeated president”.
Biden’s commemorative speech of the US Capitol riots was certainly an extraordinary moment with it already being hailed by his allies as the strongest and most important speech of his long political career. He acknowledged that the root cause of political violence has not gone away due to Trump’s lies, leaving his presidential era battling an assault on democracy and voting rights.
Near the end of his speech, Biden rightly stated “We are in a battle for the soul of America. A battle, but by the grace of God, the goodness and greatness of this nation, we will win”, finishing this commemoration in a display of political strength symbolic of a great leader.
Featured image courtesy of PartTime Portraits on Unsplash. No changes or alterations were made to this image. Image license found here.
Megan Geall
Megan is a 23-year-old recent English and American Literature graduate and aspiring journalist. Her interests include food, fitness, lifestyle writing and dance!