The US president accused his predecessor in his speech marking the first anniversary of the assault on the Capitol
President Joe Biden marked this Thursday, January 6, the first anniversary of the assault on the Capitol, with a very harsh speech against Donald Trump, accusing his predecessor of being responsible for the troubles that shook American democracy.
“For the first time in history, a president not only lost an election, he tried to prevent a peaceful transfer of power,” said Joe Biden. The supporters of the Republican billionaire leading the attack on the seat of Congress “were not a group of tourists, it was an armed insurgency. They did not seek to confirm the will of the people, but to deny the will of the people, ”he added.
Lie
The American president in particular accused his predecessor of having propagated a speech filled with lies. “The former President of the United States created and spread a web of lies about the November 2020 election, he did it because he prefers power over principle, because he considers his own best interests to be more important that the interest of the country “, said Joe Biden, stressing that Donald Trump had” built his lie for months “before the poll.
“I will not let anyone put the knife in the throat of democracy. We will make sure that the will of the people is heard, that the ballots will win, not the violence, ”promised Joe Biden.
Both in the United States and abroad, “we are engaged in a struggle between democracy and autocracy”, launched the American president. “I did not seek this fight” but “I will not slip away”.
Joe Biden reiterated that Donald Trump had “lost” the presidential election, which was “the greatest demonstration of democracy in the history of this country” because of a turnout record. “He does not accept having lost,” he said.
“Donald Trump is not just a former president, he is a defeated former president”
Donald Trump “is not just a former president, he’s a defeated former president. Beaten by a margin of over seven million votes in a free and fair election ”.
“You can’t love this country just when you win. You can’t just obey the law when it’s convenient for you. You cannot be a patriot when you accept and allow yourself (to spread) lies. “
To Trump supporters
Joe Biden accused supporters of Donald Trump of wanting to “rewrite history”. “They want you to believe that election day was the day of the uprising, and that the riots that took place on January 6 were the true expression of the will of the people,” he said.
He also denounced the electoral laws passed in several states led by Republicans, intended according to their detractors to restrict the access to the vote of minorities who lean towards the Democrats. “The former president and his supporters decided that the only way to win is to restrict your vote and sabotage your election. It’s bad, it’s anti-democratic and frankly, it’s anti-American, ”he said.