The president blames his predecessor for directing the assault on the Capitol and spreading “a web of lies” to reverse his electoral defeat
In an intense commemorative speech on the anniversary of the sad assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, this Thursday US President Joe Biden personally blamed his predecessor, Donald Trump, for the insurrection and for attacking the legitimacy of the electoral system. He blamed him for an anti-American attack, noting that he and his allies struck “a dagger to the throat of American democracy.” In his toughest intervention against the former president since taking office, Biden blamed Trump for promoting and spreading “a web of lies” to reverse his defeat in the 2020 elections and put his own interests before those of the country. “For the first time in our history, a president not only lost the elections; He tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power by encouraging the irruption of a mob in this building, he added.
The solemn morning contrasted with the violent chaos that a year earlier had hosted the seat of American sovereignty. Although with a much more relaxed level of security than in the days after the riots, the helicopters did not stop flying over the governmental area of Washington during the speeches of Biden and the vice president, Kamala Harris, before a peaceful and thoughtful audience. Dozens of people wore blue T-shirts in support of the fallen and police officers who suffered unsupported anger from radicals while defending the Capitol during the dramatic hours of the attack.
Harris compared the attack to Pearl Harbor by Japanese aviation during World War II and highlighted the fragility and strength of the democratic system, noting that both cases were a “test of the American spirit.”
Yesterday was, in any case, a gloomy day marked by sad memories and the often emotional accounts of the legislators who lived through the attack. Many of them recalled how they had to flee the building or take refuge between the seats on the balconies of the hemicycle under the blows of a violent mass that tried to open the doors of the chamber.
Meanwhile, in other areas of the Capitol complex, office personnel set up barricades to block the entry of the violent, while sending urgent text messages asking for help from the police centers, with the voices of the violent in the background, who They were looking for Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or the vice president himself, Mike Pence.
Silence for the deceased
As I recall, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, held a private moment in the hemicycle with legislators, congressional staff, institutional officials, police officers and journalists to reflect on a day that never had to happen. . The moment served to acknowledge the profound impact of the attack on all who worked on Capitol Hill and the efforts made by staff to restore normalcy as soon as possible.
A moment of silence in memory of the deceased culminated the act, where the value of the security service was also recognized, who risked their own safety to protect the integrity of the building, of those who were there at the time of the assault and, in Ultimately, democracy itself.
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In the upper house, senators made speeches reflecting on the most violent electoral certification session in history, which forced the evacuation of lawmakers and the vice president himself, Mike Pence.
On the other hand, in the remembrance day, the absence of a large part of the Republican members of Congress stood out, with the exception of Congresswoman Liz Cheney, accompanied by her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, the only ones from Trump’s party present in the speech of Pelosi.
Congresswoman Cheney highlighted the role of Mike Pence, whom she called a “hero” for doing his duty and resisting intense pressure from Trump and the Republicans involved in the plot to prevent the electoral certification of Biden’s triumph. He highlighted the enormous gratitude the nation owes to the vice president.
Former President Barack Obama joined the commemoration with a public statement warning that democracy is in greater danger today than it was then. Obama recalled that the claims of Republicans that “fanned the flames of violence on January 6” have been accepted by a considerable part of the electorate and public officials. He also recalled that state legislatures across the country have since approved measures to restrict voting and partisan interference in basic electoral processes, such as basic certification of results. “Republicans who have bravely resisted and rejected anti-democratic efforts – he added – have been marginalized, harassed and purged from the party.”
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