What Republican presidential hopefuls are saying about the January 6 anniversary

• Republican presidential hopefuls marked the anniversary differently from Biden.
• "This is their Christmas: January 6," Ron DeSantis said of Democrats and journalists.
• Read how other potential 2024 candidates marked the first anniversary of the insurrection.

President Joe Biden marked the first anniversary of the violent insurrection with a solemn speech alerting Americans to the remaining threats to democracy while casting his predecessor as an unrepentant loser who stoked the flames of a deadly riot.

Most Republicans who might run to replace Biden have a very different take, arguing that Democrats and journalists are making much ado about a riot that threatened to derail the peaceful transfer of power.

Here's a look at what potential 2024 GOP hopefuls have said:

Former President Donald Trump

"The Democrats want to own this day of January 6th so they can stoke fears and divide America. I say, let them have it because America sees through theirs lies and polarizations," Trump said in a statement released by his political PAC. 

Trump, who was impeached for his role in inciting the insurrection, also repeated the lie that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him.

Despite the initial upheaval against him, Trump is as popular among Republican voters as ever before and is widely expected to run for president again.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

"This is their Christmas: January 6," DeSantis told reporters in Florida, specifically mentioning media organizations based in Washington and New York. "They are going to take this and milk this for anything they can to be able to smear anyone who ever supported Donald Trump." 

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas 

Cotton called out Biden for "lecturing us about 'living by the truth,'" saying that the president's previous statements about his Afghanistan withdrawal and the cost of his social spending plan cost him any moral high ground.

—Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) January 6, 2022

Unlike Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, Cotton did not try to overturn election results on January 6, 2021.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas

Speaking at a Senate hearing about the Capitol Police on Wednesday, Cruz repeated his previous view that the Capitol riot was "a violent terrorist attack." Cruz also claimed Democrats expressed more outrage about the attacks on police during the riot than they did during protests in the summer of 2020.

Later Wednesday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson lit into Cruz for calling the insurrection a "terrorist attack."

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida

Rubio said in a video posted early Thursday morning that what happened last year "cannot be defended and cannot be justified," adding that it was "a terrible day in America." He also called out "far-left politicians" who he claimed "have a history of downplaying and even justifying political violence and hooliganism."

—Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 6, 2022

Like Cotton, Rubio also did not object to the certification of election results.

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri

Hawley, who last year became the first senator to explicitly pledge to object to the certification of a state's election results, wrote in a Fox News op-ed on Tuesday that Democrats started "the fear campaign on January 6." He also suggested that rioters' violence was not the "most surprising" thing that happened.

"The most surprising outcome—and the day's true legacy—was the Left's attempt to use the Capitol unrest to foster a permanent climate of fear and repression," Hawley wrote.