President Joe Biden on Monday slammed his predecessor for sitting idle for 187 minutes while a riotous mob attacked police officers during the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
In prerecorded remarks delivered to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, Mr Biden said Americans had “relied on law enforcement to save our democracy” on the day a pro-Trump mob attacked America’s legislature in hopes of preventing certification of his 2020 election win.
“We saw what happened. The Capitol Police, the DC Metropolitan Police and other law enforcement agencies were attacked and assaulted before our very eyes ... and for three hours, the defeated former President of the United States watched it all happen as he sat in the comfort of the private dining room next to the Oval Office,” Mr Biden said.
The president noted that during the time Mr Trump was watching television in his dining room, the “brave law enforcement officers” at the Capitol had been “subjected to medieval hell for three hours”.
“Dripping in blood, surrounded by carnage, face-to-face with the crazed mob that believed the lies of the defeated former president, the police were heroes that day,” Mr Biden continued.
“The police were heroes that day. Donald Trump lacked the courage to act — brave women and men in blue all across this nation should never forget that,” he said, adding that one cannot be “pro-insurrection and pro-cop,” “pro-insurrection and pro-democracy” or “pro-insurrection and pro-American”.
Mr Biden’s remarks are the strongest condemnation he has made of his predecessor’s conduct during the riot since taking office, and come after the House January 6 select committee presented evidence showing that Mr Trump took no action to stop the mob he had brought to Washington on the day his defeat to Mr Biden was to be made final.
The Department of Justice has arrested and charged nearly 800 of the roughly 2,000 people who illegally entered the Capitol during the attack, but evidence made public by the panel on Monday shows Mr Trump had no desire for anyone to face charges as a result of the riot he incited.
In an excerpt from a videotaped deposition with the select committee, ex-White House adviser Ivanka Trump was shown a draft of remarks Mr Trump was to deliver on 7 January 2021, the day after the attack, which had been edited to omit reference to a call for the Justice Department to prosecute rioters.
Ms Trump said it was her father’s handwriting which had struck out an announcement that he was “directing the Department of Justice to ensure all lawbreakers are fully prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law”.
Asked whether Mr Biden’s decision to castigate his predecessor represented any change in posture for his administration, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Mr Biden had “wanted to take the time to thank” the law enforcement community for having defended Capitol that day, and to contrast his support for law enforcement with his predecessor’s.
“The President ... has said that the former president bears responsibility [for] the insurrection and I think what you saw today was the President making that comparison,” she said.
