President Joe Biden ripped what he called the “unrelenting effort” to “erase” the memory of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Riot in a new op-ed for the Washington Post.
In his piece published on Sunday, Biden said the U.S. should be “proud that our democracy withstood this assault” and suggested the nation commit to remembering the Capitol Riot each year on its anniversary. His op-ed notably did not mention President-elect Donald Trump by name.
It also came on the eve of Vice President Kamala Harris certifying the 2024 election results on Monday, with Biden noting she would “preside over the certification of her opponent’s victory in the November election.”
“Four years later, leaving office, I am determined to do everything I can to respect the peaceful transfer of power and restore the traditions we have long respected in America,” Biden wrote.
He added that the election would be certified “peacefully” in Congress and that he would be present for the inauguration of the “incoming president” on Jan. 20.
President Biden has similarly scolded Trump and his supporters for the Capitol Riot several times in the past. In 2022, on the first anniversary of the riot, he said Trump “held a dagger at the throat of democracy.” President Biden echoed that sentiment on Sunday, telling reporters at the White House that Trump was a “genuine threat to democracy.”
The president, in his WaPo op-ed, said the nation “cannot accept” a repeat of what happened four years ago.
“Thousands of rioters crossed the National Mall and climbed the Capitol walls, smashing windows and kicking down doors,” Biden wrote. “Just blocks away, a bomb was found near the location of the incoming vice president, threatening her life. Law enforcement officials were beaten, dragged, knocked unconscious and stomped upon. Some police officers ultimately died as a result.”
Officer Brian Sicknick, who was on duty at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, died about eight hours after the riot from what the medical examiner said were natural causes due to two strokes. Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed while trying to break into the Capitol.
Four years later, Biden said “we cannot forget” the events of Jan. 6. “This is what we owe those who founded this nation, those who have fought for it and died for it.”
