- Trump slammed Biden in a long response to the president's speech on the insurrection anniversary
- Biden blasted Trump for his role in the insurrection and for refusing to admit he lost the election.
- "[Biden] is now doing the most divisive thing possible," Trump said.
Former President Donald Trump criticized President Biden's blistering January 6 anniversary speech , arguing that he himself "will SAVE American Democracy." In his speech, Biden said the Capitol insurrection was an outgrowth of Trump's "bruised ego" and inability to "accept he lost."
"Remember, I am not the one trying to undermine American Democracy—I am the one trying to SAVE American Democracy," Trump said in a lengthy two-page statement, the latest in a series of responses he has issued to his successor's speech on the first anniversary of the Capitol riot. "These radical leftists in Washington care NOTHING for American Democracy. All they care about is control over you, and wealth and riches for themselves."
Trump baselessly argued that Democrats are trying to pass federal voting rights laws out of fear that they will "overwhelmingly LOSE" future electionss. Trump famously pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" him enough votes to win the state. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows pressured the Justice Department to investigate outlandish conspiracy theories. And in the meantime, loyal Trumpers were meeting in the Willard Hotel to scheme out scenarios where Trump could overturn the election results.
In his speech, Biden linked the legacy of the deadly riot to efforts by Republicans nationwide to pass voting restrictions.
"Instead of looking at the election results from 2020 and saying they need new ideas or better ideas to win more votes, the former president and his supporters have decided the only way for them to win is to suppress your vote and subvert our elections," Biden said in the Capitol Rotunda.
Echoing some of his allies, Trump faulted Biden for being too divisive in how he marked the anniversary
"[Biden] is now doing the most divisive thing possible—slandering his political opponents as domestic terrorists, just like insecure dictators do in communist countries," Trump said in his statement.
Trump repeatedly called protesters, some of whom assaulted police officers and burned buildings, "terrorists" during unrest in the summer of 2020. Touring Kenosha, Wisconsin in Sept. 2020, Trump blamed "domestic terrorism" for violence in the city.
Biden made a point not to mention Trump by name, but he repeatedly laid into "the former president" throughout his speech.
Trump, like some other 2024 hopefuls, also called the focus on the first anniversary a "phony media event" and promised that "the truth is coming out" about the Capitol riot.
It's unclear what Trump means about the truth coming out, but Capitol riot committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson said it is likely that his bipartisan panel will have primetime TV hearings in a matter of months laying out what their investigation has found. Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, has confirmed that former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told his panel that Trump "gleefully watch[ed]" TV for hours as rioters tore through the Capitol.
Thompson and Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the top Republican on the panel, have also refused to rule out the possibility that Trump could face criminal charges for his role in the insurrection.