The atmosphere was dismal, without the slightest audience. In the heart of the Capitol, in the Hall of Statues, President Joe Biden and his vice-president Kamala Harris commemorated, Thursday, January 6, the assault on the Capitol, in this place where a year earlier, the crowd of supporters of Donald Trump paraded violently. His name has never been mentioned, but the former President of the United States has been mentioned more than fifteen times. After pretending to ignore Donald Trump for months, Joe Biden put it at the heart of his speech, as it remains an obstacle to national reconciliation and weighs on his mandate.
“The former president of the United States created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 elections, accused Mr. Biden, alone at his desk in the room. He did it because he values power more than principle, because he considers his own best interests to be more important than the interest of his country and America, and because his bruised ego counts more for him than our democracy or our Constitution. He cannot accept having lost. “
Joe Biden also attacked supporters of Donald Trump who invaded the premises on January 6, 2020. “It was not a group of tourists. It was an armed insurrection. They did not seek to defend the will of the people, they sought to deny the will of the people ”. “You can’t love your country only when you win, he added. You cannot obey the law only when it is convenient for you. You cannot be a patriot when you support and allow lies ”.
Shortly before, Vice President Kamala Harris had compared the assault on Capitol Hill to the darkest events in the nation, which would occupy “Our common memory” in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
“We are living at a turning point in history”
In his solemn speech, Joe Biden also insisted on the historic stake. “Make no mistake: we are living at a turning point in history. Both in the United States and abroad, we are once again engaged in a struggle between democracy and autocracy … From China to Russia and beyond, they bet the days of democracy are numbered. They bet America will become more like them. I do not believe it. We are not a land of kings, dictators or autocrats. We are a nation of laws; order, not chaos; of peace, not of violence ”, warned the president. “Our democracy has held up. We the people have endured. And we, the people, took it away, rejoiced Mr. Biden. I will defend this nation and I will not allow anyone to put a dagger in the throat of democracy. “
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