Joe Biden Criticizes Donald Trump for His Attempt to Overturn 2020 Election With Violence Ahead of Capitol Attack Anniversary
In a campaign speech delivered on Friday, President Joe Biden took the opportunity to criticize his predecessor and political rival, former President Donald Trump, who is widely expected to be the GOP presidential nominee for the next election.
Biden's remarks came ahead of the third anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which he described as "an attempt to overturn a free and fair election by force and violence."
Highlighting the numbers surrounding the 2020 election, Biden reminded the audience of the record-breaking 81 million people who voted for him and declared that Trump lost the popular vote by 7 million.
He emphasized that Trump's claims about the election were unfounded and failed to hold up in court.
"Trump lost 60 court cases — 60. Trump lost to Republican-controlled states. Trump lost before Trump appointed judge and then judges, and Trump lost before the United States Supreme Court," Biden stated, to resounding applause.
Biden then shifted his focus to the actions of Trump and his supporters after the election. He highlighted the harassment and death threats faced by election officials, such as Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who were targeted by Trump and his supporters for simply doing their jobs.
Biden also brought up that Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, was recently hit with a $148 million judgment for his role in inflicting harm and defamation on these election workers. He also noted that other state and local elected officials across the country faced similar attacks.
The President then turned to Fox News, criticizing them for spreading lies about voter fraud, and stated that they had agreed to pay a record $787 million for their misinformation.
He made it clear that Trump had exhausted every legal avenue available to him to overturn the election but ultimately realized, "I’d won the election, and he was a loser."
Biden expressed his dismay at Trump's refusal to denounce political violence, stating, "Political violence is never, ever acceptable in the United States. It has no place in a democracy."
"Never, never, never," he continued. "It has no place in a democracy. None. It can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American."
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He ended his speech by recounting Trump's rally, where he joked about an intruder assaulting Paul Pelosi.
“You know, Trump and his MAGA supporters not only embrace political violence, but they laugh about it," Biden continued. "At his rally, he jokes about an intruder whipped up by the big Trump ally, taking a hammer to Paul Pelosi’s skull and echoing the very same words used on January 6th, ‘Where’s Nancy?’"
The president decried such behavior as despicable, emphasizing that it is unacceptable for any person, let alone a president, to engage in such rhetoric.