\n<\/p>\n
In the first campaign speech of his 2024 re-election bid, President Joe Biden<\/strong> denounced<\/a> Donald Trump<\/strong>, his likely presidential election opponent, in the starkest terms yet, painting his rival as the protagonist of the January 6, 2021 attack and as a fundamental threat to the \u201csacred cause\u201d of democracy.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s assault on democracy isn\u2019t just part of his past,\u201d Biden said in an impassioned 31-minute speech delivered near historic Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, a day before the third anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol. \u201cIt\u2019s what he\u2019s promising for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe told the crowd to \u2018fight like hell.\u2019 And all hell was unleashed,\u201d Biden said of Trump\u2019s role on January 6.<\/p>\n The president recounted in excruciating detail the shocking events that unfolded as hundreds of Trump supporters attempted to stop the formal certification of the 2020 presidential election: the shattering of doors and assaulting of Capitol Police officers, the makeshift gallows, and \u201cHang Mike Pence\u201d chants, the rioters yelling \u201cWhere\u2019s Nancy [Pelosi]?\u201d, and Trump\u2019s steadfast refusal to condemn the violence.<\/p>\n \u201cWe nearly lost America \u2014\u00a0lost it all,\u201d Biden said in a near-whisper.<\/p>\n On Saturday morning, the Biden campaign released<\/a> an ad filled with clips of comments Trump has made in the wake of January 6, in which he described the attack as \u201cthe most beautiful day\u201d and the attackers as having \u201clove in their heart.\u201d<\/p>\n As Biden attempts to make January 6 and Trump\u2019s ongoing threat to democracy central themes of his re-election bid, recent polling shows<\/a> that Republicans have become even more sympathetic to Capitol rioters\u2014and more likely to absolve Trump of responsibility\u2014than they were at the time of the insurrection. \u201cAs time has gone on, politics, fear, money, all have intervened,\u201d Biden said Friday. \u201cAnd now these MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump on January 6th have abandoned the truth and abandoned democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn trying to rewrite the facts of January 6, Trump is trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election,\u201d the president added. \u201cBut we knew the truth because we saw it with our own eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to recalling Trump\u2019s actions on January 6, Biden\u2019s speech ran through some of the low moments of Trump\u2019s presidency, as well as his violent rhetoric on the campaign trail and promises to enact \u201crevenge\u201d and even install a \u201cdictatorship\u201d if re-elected. \u201cSometimes, I\u2019m really happy the Irish in me can\u2019t be seen,\u201d Biden said while recounting Trump\u2019s reported comments<\/a> calling dead soldiers \u201csuckers\u201d and \u201closers.\u201d (Biden\u2019s late son, Beau Biden, served in Iraq.) \u201cHow dare he? Who in God\u2019s name does he think he is?\u201d<\/p>\n