BLUE BELL, Pa. (AP) 鈥 President Joe Biden warned Friday that Donald Trump's efforts to retake the White House in 2024 pose a grave threat to the country, the day before the third anniversary of the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol by then-President Trump鈥檚 supporters aiming to keep him in power.
Speaking , where George Washington and the Continental Army spent a bleak winter nearly 250 years ago, Biden said that Jan. 6 2021, marked a moment where 鈥渨e nearly lost America 鈥 lost it all.鈥 He said the presidential race 鈥 a likely rematch with Trump, who is the far and away GOP frontrunner 鈥 is 鈥渁ll about鈥 whether American democracy will survive.
The speech, the president's first political event of the election year, was intended to clarify the expected choice for voters this fall. Biden, who reentered political life because he felt he was best capable of defeating Trump in 2020, believes focusing on defending democracy to be central to persuading voters to reject Trump once again.
鈥淲e all know who Donald Trump is,鈥 Biden said. 鈥淭he question we have to answer is who are we?鈥
Biden, laid out Trump鈥檚 , as a mob of the Republican鈥檚 supporters overran the building while lawmakers were counting Electoral College votes that certified Democrat Biden's win. More than 100 police officers were bloodied, beaten and attacked by the rioters who overwhelmed authorities to break into the building.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 Trump done? He鈥檚 called these insurrectionists 鈥榩atriots,鈥欌 Biden said, 鈥渁nd he promised to pardon them if he returns to office.鈥 He excoriated Trump for 鈥済lorifying鈥 rather than condemning political violence.
At least nine people who were at the Capitol that day , including several officers who died of suicide, a woman who was shot and killed by police as she tried to break into the House chamber, and three other Trump supporters who authorities said suffered medical emergencies.
Biden said that by 鈥渢rying to rewrite the facts of Jan. 6, Trump is trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election."
Trump, who stemming from his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden and three other felony cases, are themselves seeking to undermine democracy by using the legal system to thwart the campaign of his chief rival. The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether Trump could be kept off the ballot because of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Speaking in Iowa Friday, Trump repeated his false claims that he won the 2020 election and his assertion that the Capitol rioters were patriotic, and called the long prison sentences handed down for some offenders 鈥 whom Trump calls 鈥渉ostages鈥 and were convicted of crimes like assaulting police officers on Jan. 6 or seditious conspiracy 鈥 鈥渙ne of the saddest things.鈥
Biden, in his remarks, seized on Trump's grievances and his pledges to get retribution on his political enemies.
鈥淒onald Trump鈥檚 campaign is about him," Biden said. "Not America. Not you. Donald Trump鈥檚 campaign is obsessed with the past, not the future.鈥
He added: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no confusion about who Trump is or what he intends to do.鈥
Before his remarks, Biden, joined by his wife Jill, participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at Valley Forge 好色tv Arch, which honors the troops who camped there from December 1777 to June 1778. He also toured the home that served as Washington鈥檚 headquarters.
Biden invoked Washington鈥檚 decision to resign his commission as the leader of the Continental Army after American independence was won 鈥 and the painting commemorating that moment that resides in the Capitol Rotunda 鈥 to cast Trump as unworthy of Washington鈥檚 legacy.
鈥淗e could have held onto that power as long as he wanted,鈥 Biden said of Washington. 鈥淏ut that wasn鈥檛 the America he and the American troops of Valley Forge had fought for. In America, our leaders don鈥檛 hold on to power relentlessly. Our leaders return power to the people 鈥 willingly.鈥
Vice President Kamala Harris was headed to South Carolina Saturday, where she too was to address the Jan. 6 riot.
鈥淥n that day, we saw violence, chaos, and lawlessness, even though some so-called leaders still say it was a peaceful protest led by, quote, 鈥榞reat patriots,鈥欌 she will say, according to her prepared remarks.
Although the chaos of Jan. 6 came down on members of both political parties, it is being remembered in a largely polarized fashion now, like other aspects of political life in a divided country.
In the days after the attack, 52% of U.S. adults said Trump bore a lot of responsibility for Jan. 6, according to the Pew Research Center. By early 2022, that had declined to 43%. The number of Americans who said Trump bore no responsibility increased from 24% in 2021 to 32% in 2022.
A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released this week found that about 7 in 10 Republicans say too much is being made of the attack. Just 18% of GOP supporters say that protesters who entered the Capitol were 鈥渕ostly violent,鈥 down from 26% in 2021, while 77% of Democrats and 54% of independents say the protesters were mostly violent, essentially unchanged from 2021.
Biden said that 鈥減olitics, fear, money鈥 have led many Republicans to abandon their criticism of Trump after the Jan. 6 attack.
"These MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump and Jan. 6th have abandoned the truth and abandoned democracy,鈥 Biden said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e made their choice. Now the rest of us 鈥 Democrats, Independents, mainstream Republicans 鈥 we have to make our choice. I know mine. And I believe I know America鈥檚.鈥
Biden has frequently invoked the dangers of Jan. 6 since his 2021 inauguration on the same Capitol steps where police officers were struggling to battle back rioters just two weeks earlier. On the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack, Biden had stood in the Capitol's Statuary Hall, a historic spot where the House of Representatives used to meet before the Civil War. On Jan. 6, rioters filled the area, some looking for lawmakers who had run for cover.
鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 looking to uphold the will of the people,鈥 Biden said of the rioters. 鈥淭hey were looking to deny the will of the people.鈥
On the second anniversary, to 12 people who were involved in defending the Capitol during the attack.
included supporters and young people motivated by the attack to get involved in politics, campaign advisers said.
鈥
AP writer Jill Colvin contributed.
