Biden hammers Trump over riot, warns of ongoing threat

Bloomberg

President Joe Biden warned the insurrection at the US Capitol is part of an assault on democracy that Donald Trump and his supporters are continuing to wage a year after the deadly riot.
Biden’s speech was his most detailed rebuttal yet of the effort by Trump and prominent Republicans to raise doubt about the results of the 2020 election and rewrite voting laws, state by state.
Without uttering his name, Biden identified the former president as the leader of the campaign to undercut the results and incite his supporters to riot at the Capitol last Jan. 6. Biden warned that the political forces that set off the riot are raging today as Trump loyalists in state governments seek to limit access to absentee voting and tighten rules for eligibility.
“I will defend this nation, and I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy,” Biden said Thursday from the Capitol’s Statuary Hall, which was swarmed a year ago by Trump supporters seeking to block certification of the election. “We will make sure the will of the people is heard, that the ballot prevails, not violence, that authority in this nation will always be peacefully transferred.”
The speech is part of a day of commemoration, featuring remarks by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with other Democrats, who are seeking to refocus public attention on a dark chapter in U.S. history and dampen enthusiasm for another Trump presidency.
Politically, Biden sought to draw a clear contrast with his predecessor as the president’s own popularity sags under the weight of a resurgent coronavirus outbreak and high inflation, threatening to hand Republicans control of the House and Senate in this year’s midterm elections.

Appealing to Moderates
Biden’s approach — focusing on the dangers posed to democracy by Trump and his supporters, who continue to push a revisionist and false history of the 2020 election and insurrection — is aimed at helping him recapture support from moderate voters.
The president’s approval fell to just 40% of Americans in a USA Today/Suffolk poll released last week, driven by independents who have soured on his performance. But just 39% of voters approve of Trump, according to an analysis of polls by FiveThirtyEight, while 58% disapprove.
Despite his approval rating, Trump’s grip on the Republican party remains strong, which could be seen in the way the Jan. 6 anniversary events played out. As lawmakers gathered in the House chamber to mark the day, the only Republicans spotted were Representative Liz Cheney, who has become isolated in her party because of her persistent criticism of Trump, and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney. Indeed, Biden’s speech took aim at some of the most frequent claims by Republicans who have either supported the false claims that fueled the insurrection, or remained silent.
Biden cited legal challenges and reviews that found no widespread fraud in key states where Trump pressured officials to overturn results. Biden pointed out that Republicans celebrated gains in the House of Representatives in same election that ejected Trump from office — and that Republicans argue the top of the ballot was skewed while “somehow those results were accurate.”