4 Takeaways From the Jan. 6 Capitol Attack Commemoration

2 years ago 321

Katie Rogers

Jan. 6, 2022, 6:34 p.m. ET

Jan. 6, 2022, 6:34 p.m. ET

President Joe Biden connected  Thursday successful  National Statuary Hall wrong  the Capitol.
Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — This day of Jan. 6 marked a turning constituent for President Biden, who for overmuch of his archetypal twelvemonth successful bureau avoided nonstop confrontation with his predecessor, Donald J. Trump.

On Thursday, Mr. Biden took deliberate purpose astatine Mr. Trump, assailing him for watching tv arsenic the attacks unfolded, spreading a prevarication that the 2020 predetermination was rigged, and holding “a dagger astatine the pharynx of America” erstwhile helium encouraged his supporters to onslaught the United States Capitol.

But Mr. Biden held connected to 1 vestige from the past year: He inactive refused to telephone Mr. Trump by name.

Here are 4 takeaways from the day.

As president-elect successful November 2020, Mr. Biden and his unit proceeded with the modulation process by treating Mr. Trump’s attempts to reverse the predetermination arsenic small much than histrionics.

The calculation made backmost past by Mr. Biden and his advisers was that America was simply acceptable to determination on, but connected Thursday, the president was much consenting than accustomed to code Mr. Trump’s claims, calling him a loser successful the process.

“He’s not conscionable a erstwhile president. He’s a defeated erstwhile president — defeated by a borderline of implicit 7 cardinal of your votes successful a afloat and escaped and just election,” Mr. Biden said. “There is simply zero impervious the predetermination results were inaccurate.”

His remarks acceptable him down a much confrontational way with Mr. Trump, who holds a steadfast grip connected his enactment and shows nary motion of backing down from continuing to perpetrate a mendacious communicative astir the 2020 election. It is simply a improvement Mr. Biden spent his archetypal twelvemonth successful bureau avoiding, but 1 that helium seemed to clasp arsenic a substance of necessity connected Thursday.

On his Inauguration Day conscionable nether a twelvemonth ago, Mr. Biden promised to beryllium “a president for each Americans. I volition combat arsenic hard for those who did not enactment maine arsenic for those who did.” On Thursday, helium appeared not arsenic the peacemaker president but arsenic a person who had a informing for Americans who attacked the Capitol successful work of Mr. Trump.

“I did not question this combat brought to this Capitol 1 twelvemonth agone today, but I volition not shrink from it either,” Mr. Biden said. “I volition basal successful this breach. I volition support this nation. And I volition let nary 1 to spot a dagger astatine the pharynx of our democracy.”

Mr. Biden besides reserved immoderate of his ire for elected officials. For a person who came into bureau speaking poetically astir the creation of bipartisanship — “politics is the creation of the possible,” helium said aboriginal connected — and astir the request to heal a fractured nation, Mr. Biden suggested that helium was lone funny successful moving with Republicans who person not tied their governmental fortunes to the falsehoods dispersed by Mr. Trump.

“While immoderate courageous men and women successful the Republican Party are lasting against it, trying to uphold the principles of that party, excessively galore others are transforming that enactment into thing else,” Mr. Biden said. “But immoderate my different disagreements are with Republicans who enactment the regularisation of instrumentality and not the regularisation of a azygous man, I volition ever question to enactment unneurotic with them to find shared solutions wherever possible.”

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Credit...Jason Andrew for The New York Times

The president’s remarks presented a stark choice: “Are we going to beryllium a federation that lives not by the airy of the information but successful the shadiness of lies?” In corners of the net governed by Mr. Trump and his supporters, the reply seemed clear.

On a podcast hosted by Stephen K. Bannon, a erstwhile Trump adjutant who was indicted successful November for failing to comply with legislature investigators, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia deflected blasted for the onslaught and suggested it was portion of a authorities conspiracy.

In his ain cascade of statements, Mr. Trump showed nary motion that helium was going to shrink from a fight. He assailed Mr. Biden for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the unit withdrawal from Afghanistan, and adjacent the mode helium delivered his Thursday remarks.

Key Figures successful the Jan. 6 Inquiry


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“He acts similar he’s aggrieved,” Mr. Trump said successful 1 of respective statements, “but we’re the ones who were aggrieved, and America is suffering due to the fact that of it.”

The Republican Party remains precise overmuch Mr. Trump’s, his lies astir a stolen predetermination a litmus trial that helium is seeking to enforce connected the 2022 primaries with the candidates helium backs. He is the party’s astir coveted endorser, its starring fund-raiser and the aboriginal front-runner successful polling for the 2024 statesmanlike nomination.

Mr. Trump has a rally scheduled successful Arizona adjacent week.

Mr. Biden’s forceful condemnation of Mr. Trump was echoed by Democrats crossed the Capitol. Republicans were mostly absent.

Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, accompanied by her father, appeared to beryllium the lone elected Republican among dozens of lawmakers who gathered connected the House level connected Thursday afternoon. Many Senate Republicans were retired of municipality for the ceremonial of a erstwhile colleague.

Republicans were not wholly silent. While calling past Jan. 6 “a acheronian day,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the number leader, said successful a connection that it has “been stunning to spot immoderate Washington Democrats effort to exploit this day to beforehand partisan argumentation goals that agelong predated” the chaos astatine the capitol, a apt notation to a Democrat-led propulsion for voting rights legislation.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who condemned the events of the time erstwhile they happened lone to reverse people soon after, accused Democrats of politicizing the anniversary: “Their brazen attempts to usage Jan. 6 to enactment extremist predetermination betterment and changing the rules of the Senate to execute this extremity volition not succeed,” Mr. Graham said.

But determination were immoderate voices among unelected Republicans calling for thing of a reckoning implicit the party’s enactment for Mr. Trump.

Karl Rove, the strategist who helped George W. Bush triumph the presidency twice, utilized his Wall Street Journal sentiment column to rebuke “those Republicans who for a twelvemonth person excused the actions of the rioters who stormed the Capitol, disrupted Congress arsenic it received the Electoral College’s results and violently attempted to overturn the election.”

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